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TAIWAN'S CROSS-STRAIT POLICY NOT TO CHANGE AFTER ELECTIONS: MAC HEAD

ROC Central News Agency

2005-12-06 19:44:08

    Washington, Dec. 5 (CNA) Visiting Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu said Monday that Taiwan's cross-strait policy will not be swayed by the outcome of the just-concluded local elections which saw the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suffer a crushing defeat.

    On President Chen Shui-bian's remarks prior to Saturday's elections that if the "pan-blue alliance" of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) won by a landslide, cross-strait policy might be tightened, Wu said that one should know the background of Chen's remarks.

    Wu said that a lot of people had expected cross-strait policy to be relaxed and bilateral relations improve after the "pan-blue alliance" won the legislative elections in late 2004. But in fact, China passed an Anti-Secession Law targeting Taiwan in March. China also feted Lien Chan, then KMT chairman, and James Soong, PFP chairman, in the following two months and continued to ignore the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Wu said, resulting in the retrogression of cross-strait relations. Chen's remarks should be read in this context, he said.

    Asked whether cross-strait policy will change in the wake of the DPP's drubbing in the elections, Wu said that "from the angle of the government, it will not change, " adding that these are local elections and not a referendum on cross-strait policy.

    The government is promoting and will continue to promote its cross-strait policies, Wu said.

    He said that a planned national economic planning development conference will probably review some cross-strait trade policies, and if some consensus is forged, the government will surely follow through.

    He noted that the government is currently promoting consultations with Beijing on fully opening the nation to Chinese tourists, and cross-strait charter flights. Future consultations could cover both sides joining hands to crack down on crime, financial supervision, and protecting Taiwan businessmen's investments, Wu said.

    Some Americans asked him while he was in the States whether the government will continue to promote a full opening to Chinese tourists to Taiwan. Wu told them that Taiwan has continued to promote the policy since its partial opening to Chinese tourists in Jan. 2002.

    Wu said that Chinese National Tourism Administration Director Shao Qiwei's visit to Taiwan in late October was a "positive development in this respect."

(By Oliver Lin and Lilian Wu)

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