Taiwan's goodwill toward China has its limits: MAC chief

ROC Central News Agency

2018/05/17 19:50:32

Taipei, May 17 (CNA) Taiwan will continue to show goodwill toward mainland China, but that does not mean the government will do so "without limit," Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said on Thursday.

"Should Taiwan's security and social stability be threatened, we will do whatever is necessary to deal with various contingencies," Chen said during an informal meeting with reporters.

"Although China has yet to respond to Taiwan's goodwill and has even stepped-up its saber-rattling in a bid to force Taiwan to accept its political preconditions, Taiwan has its own strategy and will not yield to pressure," he said.

Stressing that "the government will not take the old path of confrontation," Chen hailed President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) efforts to maintain the status-quo across the Taiwan Strait.

He voiced hope that the two sides can sit down and work to resolve differences based on the principle of reciprocity with no political preconditions.

Chen made the comment in response to remarks made on Wednesday by Liu Jieyi (劉結一), head of the Taiwan Affairs Office under China's State Council, that Taiwan should support the "1992 consensus" -- a tacit agreement reached between Taiwan and the mainland in 1992 that there is only "one China" and each side is free to interpret what it means.

Beijing insists the consensus serve as the political foundation for cross-strait exchange, but Tsai, who assumed office in May, 2016, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that she leads refuse to accept it, stalling cross-strait ties.

"Given that Taiwan has had heated debate over the term for many years, it is not pragmatic to conduct cross-strait exchanges based on a controversial term," Chen said, stressing that "it is better to promote bilateral interactions based on terms contained in the Republic of China Constitution and the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.

(By Miao Zong-han and Flor Wang)
Enditem/AW