Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

VOA REPORT ON MAC CHAIRMAN REMARKS REPUDIATED

Central News Agency

2005-06-22 17:05:27

    Taipei, June 22 (CNA) The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) repudiated Wednesday a report by the Voice of America radio station on the MAC chairman's remarks related to cross-Taiwan Strait relations and the possible arrangement of a meeting between the leaders of the two sides.

    The VOA reported Tuesday that MAC Chairman Joseph Wu has urged China to help arrange a meeting between President Chen Shui-bian and China's President Hu Jintao by showing more willingness. It also quoted Wu as saying that Taipei and Beijing should use "the interpretation on the results of the 1992 Hong Kong talks " to resume dialogue between the two sides.

    According to the report, Wu also claimed that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party government does not exclude an eventual unification with China, saying that it is wrong to be of the opinion that the DPP's only option is Taiwan independence.

    Claiming in a press release that the report only picked out part of Wu's remarks, the MAC said that what Wu actually said is that a Chen-Hu meeting can be held when cross-strait tensions are eased.

    Wu also said it is impossible for Taiwan to accept the arrangement of such a meeting if Beijing insists on maintaining its "one China" policy, military intimidation and diplomatic obstruction towards the nation, as well as demands that the country should accept certain political preconditions.

    Under the current hostile relations between the two sides of the strait, Wu said both sides could have better and closer cooperation if their officials could hold talks on practical matters, including direct charter flights and tourism and agricultural exchanges.

    Pointing out that in order to resolve cross-strait disputes, Chen said in March that based on the results achieved in the 1992 Hong Kong talks, he would agree on the resumption of talks with China, Wu further said that if China wants to show willingness, it should take Chen's words as a concept to rebuild a dialogue channel between the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, the quasi-official bodies on either side of the strait set up to handle exchanges in the absence of official ties.

    In response to a VOA question on how to eventually resolve the problems related to Taiwan's future, Wu said it is wrong to think that the only option of the DPP after it became the ruling party is to separate Taiwan from China and cut all ties.

    Chen said in his second-term inaugural speech delivered in May 20 last year that he does not exclude the possibility of developing any kind of relations with China in the future if the Taiwan people give him the mandate to do so, Wu continued. "We don't want to pick an option and discuss it before a further debate by the Taiwan people on all the options, or to close the door, " he continued, saying that "the door of Taiwan's future is open."

(By P.C. Tang)

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