MAC official rejects Qian's statement
Taiwan Headlines January 31, 2000
A senior official from the Mainland Affairs Council on Saturday rejected remarks made Friday by PRC Vice Premier Qian Qichen on the issue of unification between Taiwan and mainland China.
Qian's statement was issued to mark the forthcoming fifth anniversary of PRC President Jiang Zemin's announcement of his eight-point proposal on cross-strait relations and unification with Taiwan. In it, Qian acknowledged that Taiwan's circumstances are different from those of Hong Kong and Macau prior to the sovereignty of those territories reverting to China. He said, however, that any solution to the Taiwan issue would have to be found, "within the framework of the 'one country, two systems' policy."
MAC Vice Chairman Lin Chong-pin was quoted by the Taiwan News as saying: "Mainland China's so-called looser 'one country, two systems' is only an adjustment of the size of the cage. With full-blown democracy and freedom in Taiwan, why would Taiwanese people want to walk into that cage? This kind of proposal simply serves to insult us."
According to The China Post, Lin said he saw Qian's warning that Taiwan independence would lead to war between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait as a bid to sway the election results.
On Friday, Lin had criticized Beijing's emphasis on Jiang's eight-point proposals of 1995. "If China only sticks to Jiang's eight points, then that is regrettable," he was quoted by the Taipei Times as saying. "This shows mainland China is still taking a self-centered approach."
Lin said that what Taiwan wants is a return to the agreement both sides had in 1992, that negotiations could be held with room for the expression of differing views under the policy of "one China."
A spokesperson from the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday that circumstances were forcing Taiwan to step up its efforts to expand its international relations.
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