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Former official: Official representatives on both sides of strait

ROC Central News Agency

2010/05/02 18:02:22

Taipei, May 2 (CNA) Taiwan and China should have official representative offices to take up the functions of the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation and its Chinese counterpart the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, a former chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Sunday.

At an opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) -sponsored symposium, Chen Ming-tung suggested that Taiwan should enhance its dialogues and exchanges with China as well as with other neighboring countries.

Stressing the importance of Taiwan defining its relations with China, Chen said that while Taiwan needs to maintain stable cross-strait relations, it is also vital for the nation to reinforce cooperation with its other neighbors in order to maintain such cross-strait stability.

In addition, the government's China policy should be transparent, and any resolution related to Taiwan's political status should be decided by the Taiwanese people through public vote, according to Chen.

He called on Beijing to quit the "party-to-party" formula in communicating with Taiwan -- in which the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) negotiates with the Communist Party of China -- and to establish official representative offices as soon as possible.

While suggesting the establishment of a cross-strait peaceful exchange mechanism, Chen warned, however, that such political preconditions as the " one China principle" or "eventual unification" are not acceptable to the DPP.

Regarding cross-strait agreements, Chen suggested that should the DPP regain the administration of the country, some agreements might need to be re-assessed and could be subject to renegotiations.

For instance, he went on, the DPP would allow the people the option of referendum -- rejected by the KMT -- on the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement with China. (By Yeh Su-ping and Lillian Lin) ENDITEM/J