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Tsai reiterates stance on maintaining cross-strait peace

ROC Central News Agency

2017/01/20 20:43:34

Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) In a recent letter to Pope Francis, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) reiterated the Republic of China's stance on upholding Taiwan's democracy and peace in the Taiwan Strait, outlining four principles for peaceful engagement with mainland China.

Tsai sent the letter on Jan. 5 in response to the Pope's message on the World Day of Peace 2017. In the papal message, Pope Francis called on individuals and nations to take concerted efforts to address the crises facing mankind with love and faith in nonviolence.

In the letter, published by the Presidential Office on Friday, Tsai expressed her appreciation and support of the Pope's call for "disarmament and the abolition of nuclear weapons, as well as solutions to regional conflict, terrorism, migration issues and environmental destruction."

She wrote that Taiwan and mainland China were once embroiled in a zero-sum conflict that caused tension in the region and anxiety among our peoples, but now people in both sides enjoy stable lives and normal exchanges under peaceful and separate governance.

"We should thus cherish all the more this status quo of hard-won stability," Tsai said.

Tsai also listed four principles for peaceful engagement with mainland China: "our pledges will not change, our goodwill will not change, we will not bow to pressure and we will not revert to the old path of confrontation."

"I urge the governing party across the strait, together with the governing party in Taiwan, to set aside the baggage of history and engage in positive dialogue," Tsai said in the letter.

Addressing the close ties between the Republic of China and the Holy See, Tsai pledged that the ROC would continue to answer the Pope's appeal for humanitarian assistance and to assist the Catholic Church in its pastoral work around the world.

The Holy See, with which the ROC established diplomatic relations in 1942, is the only country in Europe that has full diplomatic links with Taiwan.

(By Sophia Yeh and Elizabeth Hsu)
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