Taipei, March 20 (CNA) The top and urgent priority of President-elect Chen Shui-bian, candidate of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is to dispel worries over his and the DPP's pro-independence tendencies, a scholar said on Monday.
Chen, against whom Beijing launched pre-election verbal assaults due to his pro-independence bent, risks leading the volatile cross-strait relations to new uncertainties if he does not act fast to defuse anxiety over the separatism advocated by the DPP, which is poised to become Taiwan's ruling party after his inauguration, said Chang Lin-cheng of National Taiwan University.
Chang said Chen, a "minority president" who garnered only 39.3 percent of the vote, is the one who has the least to lose in cross-strait dealings, from among the three main candidates in the just-concluded presidential election.
Chang made the remarks during a hearing at the Legislative Yuan on the development of cross-strait relations after the election.
She suggested that Chen, who had announced that he would end his participation in all DPP activities if elected, go further by resigning from the party, completely freeing himself from the bondage of the DPP's independence platform.
In the meantime, Chang said, Chen, who will be sworn in as the 10th president of the Republic of China on May 20, should declare in his inaugural speech that he will observe the ROC Constitution, that he will not amend Article Four concerning the ROC's sovereign territory and will not change a constitutional amendment which maintains that the ROC is a sovereignty but divided into two areas.
Chen should also in his inaugural address stress his recognition of the National Reunification Guidelines promulgated in 1991, in which the ROC's one China policy is clearly indicated, Chang said.
Chou Yu-shan of National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations said that as a minority president, Chen should try hard to consolidate national consensus on major issues, including cross-strait relations.
Chu Hsin-min of National Chengchi University said that if Chen is indeed sincere about improving cross-strait relations, he must let the people know that he recognizes the ROC and declare clearly in his inaugural speech that the ROC is a sovereign nation but not by saying that "Taiwan is a sovereign country."
Chu urged Chen to "outgrow" the DPP by publicly renouncing his Taiwan independence advocacy in his inaugural address. (By Deborah Kuo)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
