Singapore, Oct. 21 (CNA) Republic of China President Chen Shui-bian said Friday that he is willing to carry out dialogue with mainland China "on the existing foundations," but that Taipei and Beijing did not reach a consensus on the "one China" issue in 1992.
In an interview with a Chinese-language Singapore newspaper published Saturday, Chen added that Taiwan has completed all preparations and is ready to begin negotiations with mainland China at any time.
He went on to express his belief that the leaders on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have sufficient wisdom and creativity to find a mutually acceptable consensus and common ground between them so that they can handle the issue of "a future one China" under the existing foundations.
Chen explained that the scope of the so-called "existing foundations" is very broad and has different interpretations and definitions under different circumstances. Taking the 1992 meeting between the two sides as an example, he said that while the two sides did indeed discuss the issue of "one China," they did not reach consensus on the issue.
Taiwan does not accept Beijing's claim that the "one China principle" is a consensus between both sides and Beijing does not agree with Taipei's take of "one China, respective interpretations," he added.
However, he continued, despite each side sticking to its own version of the story, they must nevertheless have arrived at some kind of "spirit" that led to the historic 1993 meeting in Singapore between cross-strait negotiators. According to Chen, this so-called "1992 spirit" refers to dialogue, exchanges, and setting aside contentions.
Chen said: "My so-called `existing foundations' means that agreements we've had, I will acknowledge; consensus we've reached, I accept; tacit understandings we've agreed to, I'm not against. These existing foundations already exist, and this is something I cannot deny."
He reiterated that there is no official record showing that Taiwan and the mainland did reach a consensus in the 1992 meeting about the "one China" principle. However, he added, both sides definitely have more similiarities than differences and should be able to put aside and preserve minor differences while seeking common ground.
When questioned as to whether his previous comment that "unification is not the only option" means "Taiwan independence is another option," Chen said that unification, independence, or maintaining the status quo are all choices for the Taiwan people to make. He added that he cannot decide the people's future for them.
He reiterated the principles highlighted in his May 20 inauguration speech, where he promised that as long as mainland China has no intention of invading Taiwan, he will not announce Taiwan independence during his term in office, change the official name of the nation, call a referendum on unification versus independence to change the status quo, promote writing the controversial "special state-to-state theory" into the constitution, or abolish the National Unification Council and the Guidelines on National Unification.
In response to reports of Beijing's claim that Chen's unwillingness to admit being "Chinese" is the key reason the two sides cannot resume dialogue, Chen said that this kind of "word game" is meaningless because what most concerns the people of Taiwan -- regardless of whether they call themselves Taiwanese, Chinese, ethnic Chinese, or a citizen of the world - is how Taipei and Beijing can interact with each other.
As for remarks made a day earlier in New York by Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew that no breakthrough is possible as far as cross-strait relations are concerned, Chen noted that unless there is concession over the "one China" issue, under the circumstances, it would not be easy to resume negotiations with Beijing before the U.S. presidential elections in November. (By Sherman Wu and Fang Wen-hung)
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