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PRESIDENT'S CROSS-STRAIT POLICY REMARKS OPTIMISTIC: MAC

2004-04-08 22:15:11

    Taipei, April 8 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian's recent remarks on deciding on a candidate to be stationed in mainland China before his May 20 inauguration are full of optimism, the nation's top mainland China policy planner said Thursday.

    Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen made the remarks at the Interior Committee in the Legislative Yuan when Chen's proposal about sending an envoy to the mainland and vice verse became the topic of focus.

    Tsai said that the proposal will have to be considered from the point of view of its probability, saying that establishing representative offices on either side of the Taiwan Strait is crucial to cross-strait communication and necessary if the two sides are to maintain long-term stable relations.

    Chen has instructed that a team should be set up soon to study the possibility of establishing a "peace and stability" interaction framework that will decide on the candidate to be stationed on the mainland before May 20.

    On international concerns about the situation in the Taiwan Strait, Tsai said that although Taiwan will not change the status quo, reforms and democratic development will continue. She added that the mainland and the international community will continue to be concerned about the progress of the reforms and that Taiwan will do its best to let the international community know that its reforms will be beneficial overall to the international community.

    She also said that promoting positive cross-strait interaction is established government policy and added that the government aims to pursue "long-standing harmonious and stable" cross-strait relations. " Now that the presidential election is over, cross-strait relations will face a new beginning, " Tsai said, expressing the hope that the Beijing authorities will " pragmatically face the fact that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are independent of each other and will seriously consider Taiwan's constructive proposal of establishing a peace and stability interaction framework mechanism."

    She urged Beijing to "put aside political hurdles and resume dialogue with Taiwan so as to promote and establish a normal cross-strait relationship under which both sides could have a favorable environment for their respective development and construction."

    Commenting on political developments in Hong Kong, she said that the MAC will continue to watch the situation closely to see whether democracy will take root there.

    Responding to a ruling by the mainland that Hong Kong must obtain approval from Beijing before it changes the way it selects its lawmakers and chief executive, she said the gist of democracy is that the people should be free to select their leaders directly and that the aspiration for popular election by the Hong Kong people is legitimate and necessary. "Beijing must understand the inevitable democratic trend and cautiously consider the necessity of democratic development in Hong Kong," Tsai said.

    The Standing Committee of the mainland's National Peoples' Congress put forth the ruling in an interpretation of the territory's constitution, a move viewed by many Hong Kong people as an attempt to quash growing calls for full democracy.

(By Lilian Wu)

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