Taiwan Today

President Ma Ying-jeou said July 13 he has no plans to meet mainland Chinese leader Hu Jintao after assuming chairmanship of the ruling Kuomintang. “There is no urgency for me to meet with him,” said Ma, adding that he has never had the intention of meeting Hu in his capacity as Kuomintang chairman. Since Ma launched his campaign to take the party helm last weekend, there has been much speculation about a possible meeting between Ma and Hu, who is general-secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, in their roles as party leaders. In response to such speculation, Ma clarified the misunderstanding stemming from both the domestic and international sectors about his motives:“Meeting mainland Chinese leaders is not the reason I am running for the KMT chairmanship.” Ma noted that prior to the announcement of his bid for the party chairmanship he used to say any possibility of a meeting between him and Hu has not been ruled out, but the time for such a meeting is not yet ripe. “If such an event takes place, I definitely will be required to meet Hu in my capacity as ROC president,” Ma said, adding that meeting Hu in his role as party chairman would not be conducive to resolving the problems facing both sides. Ma said that a meeting between the two leaders would be a later step, and would only be meaningful after each side has reached its own internal consensus. Ma noted that many fundamental cross-strait economic issues are still waiting to be determined, including Taiwanese businessmen’s repeated requests for agreements on investment protection, double taxation, industry standards and mechanisms for solving disputes. The president stressed that in order to normalize Taiwan’s economic development and foreign relations, “for both sides, political issues should be set aside, and the focus should be put on economic affairs.” Commenting on the forum held in the Chinese city of Changsha July 11-12, Ma said that the conference should be referred to as the “Cross-Strait Forum.” The functions of this platform “would not change” if he is elected KMT chairman, he said, adding that the Cross-Strait Forum is a platform for the exchange of ideas and opinions, rather than for policy decisions, because in a democratic society it is impossible for a political party to dictate the government. Ma also said that in future the forum could be held several times a year. “In this way, the two sides could fully communicate with each other, and this has little to do with the level of attendees to the event,” he added. (CYH-THN)