Next Chinese leader familiar with Taiwan affairs: NSB chief
ROC Central News Agency
2010/10/20 21:18:12
Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) The man in line to be China's next leader was no stranger to Taiwan affairs, but he was not expected to compromise on any sovereignty- and territory-related issues, Taiwan's National Security Bureau Director Tsai Teh-sheng said Wednesday.
"Xi Jinping, China's vice president who is widely believed to be the anointed successor to Chinese President Hu Jintao, is known to be versed in Taiwan affairs as he had extensive contact with Taiwanese businessmen during his years as communist party boss in Shanghai and the eastern provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, all of which have large clusters of Taiwan-owned companies," Tsai said at a legislative session.
Nevertheless, Tsai said Xi's rich knowledge about Taiwan would not necessarily make him a "Taiwan-friendly" leader after he took power.
For one thing, Tsai reminded members of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign and Defense Committee present at the session that Xi could not solely formulate China's future policy toward Taiwan.
"China now adopts a collective leadership system instead of a one-man rule as seen in the Deng Xiaoing era," Tsai said. "Therefore, China's future Taiwan policy will not be dictated by any single figure but will reflect the collective views and wills of a number of Chinese leaders."
In the past, Tsai continued, Chinese officials were branded as "dove faction" and "hawk faction" in terms of their stances toward Taiwan.
"Such a characterization is meaningless. As far as the sensitive sovereignty and territorial issues are concerned, all Chinese leaders are hard-liners and nationalists," he said.
Tsai also recalled that during a previous visit to a Hispanic country, Xi publicly criticized some foreign pundits critical of China's human rights policy as meddling in its domestic affairs.
Meanwhile, Tsai confirmed for the first time that a brother of Xi's wife Peng Liyuan is living in Chiayi in southern Taiwan.
Peng, a major general with the People's Liberation Army's General Political Department, is very well-known in China as a folk singer. According to Tsai, she made an eight-day visit to Taiwan in 1997 for the purpose of cultural exchanges.
On China's leadership transition, Tsai said Xi's succession to Hu has been on track since he became vice president in 2008. His recent appointment as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission -- China's top military body -- would allow him to consolidate his influence over the military and enhance his political stature, Tsai said.
Without a transparent electoral process, Tsai said, the Communist Party of China could utilize Xi's new appointment to the powerful military committee to show that its leadership transition is going ahead smoothly as Hu is expected to step down as party chief in 2012 and as president the following year. (By Emmanuelle Tzeng and Sofia wu) enditem/MH
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