• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

MAC chief vows to uphold Taiwan's position during China visit

ROC Central News Agency

2014/01/13 13:40:47

Taipei, Jan. 13 (CNA) Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi pledged Monday to stand firm on the government's position on cross-Taiwan Strait relations during his planned historic visit to China.

The government's principal policy toward China remains unchanged -- maintaining the status quo of 'no unification, no independence, no use of force' based on the Republic of China Constitution -- Wang said while attending a legislative hearing on the Taiwan-China service trade agreement.

Wang is expected to travel to China after mid-February to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Zhang Zhijun, head of Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office.

It will be Wang's first visit to China in his official capacity and the first formal meeting between the two officials tasked with handling ties across the strait.

Seeking to keep Wang on a tight leash during the trip, legislators reached a cross-party consensus last week to forbid Wang from embarking on any negotiations, signing any papers or issuing any news releases or statements on such political issues as 'one China,' the 'one China framework,' 'one country, two regions,' 'military confidence-building mechanism,' 'peace agreement,' or 'political relations arrangement in stages.'

The legislators also require that Wang should not accept or echo claims that put the nation's sovereignty at risk, such as the 'one China framework,' or 'opposition to Taiwan independence.'

Wang said he respects the Legislature's decision and stressed that he has no plans to engage in any of the topics mentioned by the lawmakers.

He also expressed disapproval of a proposal that Taiwan should follow the example of the United States and establish a panel under the Legislature to give legislators access to cross-strait trade negotiations beforehand.

He pointed out that the U.S. Congress has the power to request access to international trade negotiations because there, the authority to regulate trade is constitutionally vested in Congress.

As the situation in Taiwan is different from that of the United States, giving the Legislature access to cross-strait trade negotiations could cause a constitutional dispute, he said.

(By Scarlett Chai and Y.F. Low)
ENDITEM/J