Taipei, Sept. 6 (CNA) The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has resolved its pro-independence platform issue and its current goal is to maintain Taiwan's status quo, the ruling party chairman said Wednesday in an interview with a local radio station.
DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh made the remarks after Zhang Mingqing, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office under mainland China's State Council, told a news conference in Beijing earlier this week that mainland Chinese authorities will not have any contact with the DPP until the party revises its pro-independence platform.
Hsieh, who is also mayor of Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second-largest city, said he thinks the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should avoid uttering "empty words" to hurt each other's feelings.
In fact, he continued, the DPP's so-called pro-independence platform is no longer a problem.
"Our current strategy and attitude toward the pro-independence platform already differs from those of the early years of our party," he said.
In the past, he went on, the DPP's ultimate goal was to establish a Republic of Taiwan. "But today, we recognize that Taiwan is already an independent sovereign state formally known as the Republic of China," Hsieh explained, adding that the DPP's current goal is to defend Taiwan's status quo.
As for whether Taiwan should move toward unification with mainland China, Hsieh said the DPP prefers to exercise caution and prudence in dealing with the issue.
Basically, he said, the DPP does not rule out cross-strait unification as an option for Taiwan's future.
"Most important is that the two sides should endeavor to improve the conditions for realizing that goal," Hsieh said, adding that if the two sides' general living environments, systems, ways of thinking and religious beliefs become more similar, it will become easier for the governments on both sides to promote unification.
Asked whether his idea of "unification as an option" runs counter to President Chen Shui-bian's earlier statement that "unification is not the only road for the people of Taiwan," Hsieh claimed there is no longer a "unification vs. independence" problem in Taiwan.
"As we perceive Taiwan as already an independent country, independence is a de facto reality that nobody can deny or change," Hsieh said, adding that whether the ROC government will promote unification should be based on two factors -- mainland China's development and the expectations of the people on both sides of the strait.
For the moment, Hsieh said, Taiwan had better adopt a "wait, watch and listen" approach. "Our best strategy for the moment is `avoiding making the mainland people our enemies," he noted.
Noting that many mainland people yearn for political democratization and economic liberalization, Hsieh said Taiwan should carefully consider what it can do to help the mainland people as well as following the common wishes of the people of Taiwan. "We should do our utmost to make Taiwan's existence very meaningful," he added.
Hsieh's "unification as an option" statement immediately sparked debate among DPP heavyweights. While some party elders, including Legislator Trong Chai, blamed Hsieh for violating the basic spirit of the DPP's platform, many other members threw their support behind the Kaohsiung mayor.
DPP Secretary-General Wu Nai-jen pointed out that it is no secret the DPP favors independence over unification. "Nevertheless, the DPP has no intention of forcing others to accept its preference or choice," he added.
According to Wu, the DPP will accept the result if the people of Taiwan opt for unification through a plebiscite.
Yen Chien-fa, director of the DPP's China Affairs Department, said the DPP passed a resolution on Taiwan's future a few years ago, which said Taiwan is an independent sovereign state and any change to this independent status quo should be decided by all residents of the island through a plebiscite.
Based on this resolution, Yen said, unification can be one of the options available, but by no means the only option, for Taiwan's future.
With the passage of this resolution, Yen said, the DPP no longer had a pro-independence platform problem. "What we have now is a `plebiscite' platform on deciding Taiwan's future," he stressed. (By Sofia Wu)
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