President Ma Ying-jeou stressed in no uncertain terms May 19 that he would absolutely not hold unification talks with mainland China during his term in office.
Speaking at a news conference marking the second anniversary of his presidency, Ma stated that his cross-strait policy is based on the “three noes”—namely no discussion of unification with the mainland, no moves toward Taiwan independence and no use of military force to resolve differences in the Taiwan Strait.
Ma said he would strive to buy as much time as possible at this historic juncture in cross-strait relations to allow the people of the two sides, who share a common ancestry, to find the best solution to their differences.
On cross-strait ties, Ma said he would work to establish order in the Taiwan Strait through peace. He added that under the framework of the Republic of China Constitution, he would continue to insist on the “three noes” and the “1992 Consensus” between Taipei and Beijing as serving as the foundation in forging relations across the strait.
The “1992 Consensus” refers to the situation where both sides of the Taiwan Strait recognize there is only “one China” but differ in their interpretations of that one China.
Regarding the possibility of a meeting with mainland leader Hu Jintao during his time in office, Ma said he did not rule out the possibility but that he currently had no such plans or timetable in place.
Ma said he hopes that trade and economic issues can be ironed out before political talks are held, pointing out that otherwise, such meetings would have no meaning.
He stated that although cross-strait relations had advanced significantly during his first two years in office, much work still needed to be done, noting that deficiencies remained in the “basic infrastructure of cross-strait trade and economic relations.”
On a possible cross-strait peace treaty, the president said this was one of the “five visions” jointly put forward by Hu and Kuomintang Honorary Chairman Lien Chan after their meeting several years ago. Ma noted that the visions have been added to the KMT’s platform but no timetable has been set for moving forward on this front.
Noting that the rebuilding of cross-strait ties has focused on civilian economic and trade exchanges, Ma said there is no way of predicting at this time when peace talks might begin. He added, however, that opportunities might arise in the future if the conditions are right.
Ma stated that during his first two years in office, 12 cross-strait agreements have been signed and that there are now many exchange channels at the central and local government level.
The president tried to allay concerns among Taiwan citizens about these growing contacts across the strait, saying it is normal for officials to have such contacts amid the close economic relations between the two sides. He pointed out, however, that the only authorized formal contacts are between Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation and the mainland’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.
On the timetable for the planned cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement, Ma said the two sides are in the final stages of talks, including ironing out tariff concessions and intellectual property rights protection issues, and that the schedule for signing the pact next month had not changed.
After the ECFA is signed, Ma continued, the free trade agreement task force would immediately be upgraded, with him serving as the head of the group. The task force will then work to ink free trade agreements with Taiwan’s major trading partners, including Japan and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as quickly as possible, he added. (SB)