DATE=3/21/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=TAIWAN-CHINA (L)
NUMBER=2-260409
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=TAIPEI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In a gesture to China, Taiwan's parliament has
voted to modify a 50-year-old ban on direct trade and
transportation links between the two sides of the
Taiwan Strait. VOA correspondent Roger Wilkison
reports the measure will allow three Taiwanese-
controlled offshore island groups to have direct
contacts with the Chinese mainland.
TEXT: China has long wanted to have direct links with
Taiwan, but Taiwan has insisted that all passengers
and cargo between the two sides travel through a third
destination, usually Hong Kong. Taiwanese legislators
say the measure passed Tuesday could eventually lead
to direct trade, transportation and postal links
between China and Taiwan itself.
All three candidates in last Saturday's election
advocated an easing of the restrictions on direct
contacts. The parliament -- controlled by the ruling
Nationalist Party, which lost the presidency to
opposition candidate Chen Shui-bian -- moved to
partially alter the ban after Mr. Chen himself made a
series of overtures toward Beijing in an effort to
ease tensions between the two sides.
Mr. Chen, who was denounced by China before the
election as an advocate of formal independence for
Taiwan, has proposed a peace summit with China, saying
anything can be discussed. But China insists Mr. Chen
must be willing to acknowledge Beijing's bottom line,
that Taiwan is part of China. The Taiwanese
president-elect says he is willing to discuss that
view, but he says it can neither be a pre-condition
nor the basis for talks.
Still, China's reaction to Mr. Chen's win has been
measured, and Taiwan's stock market has reacted to the
moderate words coming from both sides by rebounding
more than five percent Tuesday.
Shelly Rigger, a Taiwan expert who teaches political
science at North Carolina's Davidson College, says Mr.
Chen went out of his way in his victory speech
Saturday night to try to dispel China's suspicions
that he is still a fiery advocate of independence.
/////RIGGER ACTUALITY/////
He spoke in Mandarin and he spoke about this being the
dawn of a new era for Chinese people. And these are
things that we do not expect to hear from independence
firebrands.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
/// OPT /// Mr. Chen, who is more at home in the
Taiwanese dialect than he is in Mandarin Chinese
represents the Democratic Progressive Party. Its
strength lies in its appeal to native-born Taiwanese
like himself who feel they have little in common with
the mainland.
The D-P-P, as it is known, says the Taiwanese people
must have the last word on whether or not they are to
become part of China. /// END OPT /// Mr. Chen's
foreign policy advisor, Parris Chang, says the
President-elect wants to resume a dialogue with China,
but with no strings attached.
/////CHANG ACTUALITY/////
We will be letting the Chinese know that we won't do
anything to provoke them or to really embarrass them.
We'd like to have good relations with them, open up
dialogue, and we only hope that they don't set a so-
called timetable for our surrender.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
Mr. Chen has insisted on equality for Taiwan at the
bargaining table -- the same position adopted by the
outgoing Nationalist government and supported by most
Taiwanese. But China, which regards Taiwan as a rebel
province, has been ambiguous on that score. Most
public pronouncements from Beijing say equality for
Taiwan is out of the question. But a Chinese policy
paper on Taiwan that was issued last month mentions
the word "parity" several times, in spelling out the
status of the two sides in any eventual negotiations.
(SIGNED)
NEB/RW/FC
21-Mar-2000 05:52 AM EDT (21-Mar-2000 1052 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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