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MAC's consulting committee urges 2nd dialogue track with China

ROC Central News Agency

2016/07/28 23:09:58

Taipei, July 28 (CNA) The consultative committee under Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has urged the government to launch a second dialogue track with China in a bid to continue exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.

The suggestion for the second dialogue track between Taiwan and China was made in a recent meeting held by the MAC's consultative committee. The meeting was the first one held by the MAC's consultative committee after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was sworn in on May 20.

In the meeting, which focused on the outlook and challenges of cross-strait ties after May 20, attendees voiced concerns about the current stalemate in exchanges between Taiwan and China after the new government took the reins in Taipei.

After Tsai, also chairwoman of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, took the helm, cross-strait ties have been overshadowed by a sense of uncertainty due to her reluctance to recognize the "1992 consensus," a tacit understanding between the two sides of the strait that there is only one China, with both sides free to interpret its meaning.

In addition to the changes in the domestic political landscape in Taiwan, participants of the meeting said that China's internal political factors and economic conditions have also affected exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.

According to the MAC, some attendees of the meeting said that the Taiwan government should set up an alternative channel or a second track in addition to the current official dialogue platform by inviting think tanks and scholars across the Taiwan Strait to hold talks in a bid to facilitate cross-strait dialogue.

Some MAC commissioners who attended the meeting said that although cross-strait exchanges have cooled down for the moment, the government should continue to pay close attention to the relations between Taiwan and China, and consider carefully how to keep developing bilateral ties and unveil a possible additional channel for communications.

The commissioners said that such an alternative communication channel aims to pave the path for resumption of the official talks between Taiwan and China.

In addition to the suggestion to open a second track in cross-strait dialogue, some attendees said that despite the suspension of official dialogue across the Taiwan Strait, China still continues to push for exchanges in the private sector as well as contacts with Taiwanese youth.

In response to the suggestions from the consultative committee, MAC Deputy Minister Lin Cheng-yi (林正義) said that the government has continued to monitor cross-strait ties, and will be able to come up with necessary measures to take on any challenges in the bilateral relationships.

Lin said that the government is determined to keep the dialogue channel open and maintain the existing communication mechanism, while vowing not to be provocative and not to create any surprise but make its China policy consistent, predictable and sustainable.

(By Chen Chia-lun and Frances Huang)
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