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CROSS-STRAIT DIFFERENCES SHOULD BE RESOLVED PEACEFULLY: PRESIDENT

ROC Central News Agency

2006-12-07 17:46:09

    Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Thursday that cross-Taiwan Strait differences, particularly political differences, should be resolved peacefully via dialogue between the official leadership of the two sides, rather than through violence or other non-peaceful means.

    During a visit to the Presidential Office by Bastiaan Belder -- a European Parliament member who authored a "China report" calling for fair treatment of Taiwan by all European Union member states -- Chen said he was very grateful that the European Parliament has passed many major resolutions regarding Taiwan's security concerns.

    Chen said Taiwan's 23 million people should neither be isolated from the world nor have their human rights neglected. Rather, he said, they should have the right to pluralistic values, like all people do around the world.

    He called for the international community to respect Taiwan people's collective human rights, pointing out that it is not only a right for the people in Taiwan to partake in global organizations and activities, it is a responsibility to do so, as part of one global society.

    Taiwan should be accepted as part of the international community whether under the principle of universality prescribed by the United Nations charter, or in terms of the supreme "borderless" guideline that has been observed by the world's health and medical sectors, Chen noted.

    Citing the "China Report, " which was passed Sept. 7 this year in a majority decision by the European Parliament, Chen said he could not agree more with the main thrust of the report, including opposition to an E.U. resolution to lift the arms embargo on China; firm support for Taiwan's participation in major international organizations, including the World Health Organization; and that controversies and differences across the Taiwan Strait should be solved via peaceful dialogue.

    Chen said he salutes the European Parliament, which has vetoed lifting the arms embargo on China in nearly 10 resolutions in the past several years. He said once such an embargo is lifted, it would be tantamount to encouraging Beijing to further infringe upon human rights and facilitating arms sales to totalitarian China, which would in turn use the arms against peace-loving Taiwan.

    The president also conveyed his appreciation to the European Parliament for its passage of a resolution calling for China to remove missiles that are deployed along its southeastern coastal provinces, targeting Taiwan.

    He said he would like to see China rise as a democratic country, instead of a military hegemony.

(By Deborah Kuo)