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Taiwan issue not internal affair of mainland China: MAC

ROC Central News Agency

2011/07/28 22:33:36

By Chen Hung-chin and Sofia Wu

Taipei, July 28 (CNA) The Republic of China is an independent sovereign state and any issue related to Taiwan is by no means an internal affair of mainland China, the country's top China policy planner said Thursday.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) issued the statement after Wang Yi, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under China's State Council, said during a meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell in Washington, D.C. a day earlier that the Taiwan issue is an internal affair of China that should be resolved through consultations between the people on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

In his talks with Campbell on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and other related issues, Wang also said China hopes the United States and other countries with an interest in the issue can play positive roles in resolving the cross-strait dispute.

Responding to Wang's remarks, MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun reiterated the ROC's sovereign status and stressed that the Taiwan issue is not "an internal affair" of mainland China.

At the moment, Liu said, the ROC's mainland policy is upholding the peaceful status quo in line with the principles of "no unification, no independence and no use of force" under the ROC's constitutional framework.

He further said the cross-strait "1992 Consensus" under which each side maintains its own interpretation of "one China" is the basis for the current institutionalized cross-strait engagements.

Noting that the cross-strait consultation mechanism is built on the principles of "shelving disputes in favor of pragmatic negotiations," Liu said sensitive political issues are not on the agenda for the moment.