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China policy remains open to different options: Tsai

ROC Central News Agency

2011/09/16 17:54:05

Washington, Sept. 15 (CNA) Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman and presidential candidate of the Democratic Progressing Party (DPP) said Thursday, her China policy remains open, but stressed that the final formulation of the policy lies in the hands of the Taiwan people.

Tsai made the comment during a speech titled "Taiwan: Policy Challenge, Choices, and Leadership in the Next Decade" at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University.

Asked about her China policy, Tsai said Taiwan should be more confident when facing China. The most important element in the development of cross-strait relations is maintaining peace and stability, she said.

She also expressed the hope that people would contribute to the formulation of her China policy by researching all possible options.

Cross-strait affairs encompass the interests of the international community, Taiwan, China, and the United States (U.S.), Tsai said, adding that it is Taiwan and China's responsibility to maintain peaceful relations.

If the DPP returns to power, it will maintain trade relations with China in light of the vast market there, she said.

However, Taiwanese would feel more secure if China embraced democratization, which would make it easier for exchanges to take place between the two sides, she said.

China must develop the same norms and values as the rest of world in order to help deepen the developments between the two sides, she said.

Commenting on Tsai's views, a senior official in the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama expressed concerns about the future of cross-strait relations if Tsai is elected president, according to a Financial Times report.

"She left us with distinct doubts about whether she is both willing and able to continue the stability in cross-strait relations the region has enjoyed in recent years," the unnamed official was quoted as saying after Tsai met with U.S. administration officials.

The newspaper also quoted a Chinese academic, an advisor to Beijing on Taiwan policy, as saying that while China understood Tsai was a moderate candidate, there was a "risk that she would be driven to back more clearly pro-independence positions under pressure from radicals in her party."

Tsai responded that she was unaware of the U.S. official's remarks and even if the statement was made, she believed the U.S. would remain neutral, not intervene or interfere with Taiwan's elections and would cooperate with a newly elected ruling party.

Chen Chi-mai, a spokesman for Tsai's delegation, said the DPP candidate made it clear during her visit to Capitol Hill that her party has the will and capability to maintain cross-strait peace, and U.S. officials have affirmed the possibility of long term and pragmatic cooperation with her. (By Leaf Chiang and C.J. Lin) Enditem /pc