Mainland Affairs Council
Executive Yuan
Republic of China (Taiwan) |
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I. |
Main Points of President Chen Shui-bian's New Year's
Day Message |
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In his 2006 New Year's Day Message, President Chen put
forward future administrative directions and goals for important national
development issues. Regarding cross-strait relations, President Chen
emphasized the core values of existing policies, offered an analysis
of development in the Taiwan Strait, and proposed a new philosophy
for future cross-strait economic and trade policies. In his message,
President Chen focused on the following areas:
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Upholding of the "Taiwan consciousness":
Both the governing and opposition parties should transcend the
unification-independence dichotomy and ethnic issues to jointly
foster a consensus on national identity among the people of
Taiwan. |
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Adherence to four principles in developing cross-strait
relations:
The development of cross-strait relations must conform to the
principles of sovereignty, democracy, peace, and parity. The
ultimate decision on Taiwan's future must and will be made by
the 23 million people of Taiwan of their own free will. |
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China's ambition to annex Taiwan:
China employs a carrot-and-stick strategy with respect to Taiwan.
It has continuously deployed guided missiles, used a "three-war"
strategy (media, legal, and psychological warfare), and established
specific timetables and goals for preparing war against the
island nation. These actions indicate that China's ambition
to annex Taiwan remains unchanged. |
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Taiwan's sustainable development as the greatest
interest in cross-strait economic and trade policies:
Cross-strait economic and trade policies do not seek to fulfill
the financial interests of any individual or corporation. On
the contrary, Taiwan's sustainable development remains the greatest
interest of our pursuits. |
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"Proactive management and effective liberalization"
as the new concept and course of action for our future cross-strait
economic and trade policies:
The government must proactively take managerial responsibility
in order to effectively reduce risks from liberalization. |
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II. |
Background |
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A. It is not possible to be optimistic regarding
the Taiwan Strait situation outlook. |
In order to stabilize cross-strait relations,
the government has been adopting proactive measures since 2000.
With "peace and development" at their core, these policies aim
at constructing a peace and stability framework for cross-strait
interaction. Nevertheless, China has failed to tweak its fundamental
policies and positions regarding Taiwan. On the contrary, it
has increased its pressure against Taiwan on the political and
military fronts. |
In March 2005, China's National People's Congress
passed an "anti-separation law" (the so-called anti-secession
law) that "mandates" the Chinese government to resolve the controversial
cross-strait issue via non-peaceful means. This move caused
grave misgivings in the international community, and led the
people of Taiwan to express their strong objection through a
"Democracy, Peace, and Safeguarding Taiwan" protest march. Without
even batting an eye at these external reactions, China has blatantly
turned up the heat under Taiwan on the political, diplomatic,
and military fronts over the past year. It has continued to
reject and boycott cross-strait interaction with the Taiwan
government in an attempt to completely hamper formal dialogue
and communication between the two sides. Most recently, China
openly declined the request by Chairman Chang Chun-hsiung of
the Straits Exchange Foundation for permission to pay his last
respects to Wang Daohan, former chairman of China's Association
for Relations across the Taiwan Strait. Furthermore, Chen Yunlin,
current chairman of the Taiwan Affairs Office under China's
State Council, and other Chinese high-ranking officials were
planning to form a delegation to Taiwan. They hoped to engage
in exchanges only with Taiwan's opposition parties and showed
no intention of meeting with the head of Taiwan's government
agency responsible for cross-strait affairs. These developments
further confirm the assessment that China does not intend to
engage in direct contact or dialogue with Taiwan's government
authorities before 2008. In other words, any initiative by the
Taiwan government would fail to receive any positive response
from China and would, therefore, be in vain. |
In sum, passage of the "anti-separation law" was
the turning point at which normalization of cross-strait relations
slowed and torpidity set in. We cannot, therefore, have high
hopes with regard to the future development of cross-strait
relations. |
B. Further steps need to be taken to consolidate
the Taiwan consciousness. |
Following passage of its "anti-separation law,"
China allied itself with certain figures in Taiwan and launched
a series of united front attacks against Taiwan to lesson the
negative effects of the law's passage. By offering specific
types of exchanges as a carrot, China also attempts to disrupt
domestic unity and provoke infighting within Taiwan. Meanwhile,
Beijing uses its long-held condition of acceptance by Taiwan
of its "one China" policy and "1992 consensus" to block official
cross-strait dialogue and consultation. In addition, China has
strengthened its interaction with Taiwan's opposition parties
and specific civic organizations to deliberately negate the
Taiwan government's authority and treat the cross-strait issue
as a domestic matter. Such a development not only creates a
chasm between Taiwan's governing and opposition parties but
also confuses and blurs concepts of Taiwan's national interests
and how to preserve the core values of Taiwan consciousness.
Facing such a challenge, it is certainly necessary for the government
to redirect the trend and further strengthen Taiwan consciousness
with the aim of safeguarding Taiwan's basic interests and sustainable
development. |
C. Countering the negative influences brought
by the liberalization of cross-strait trade and economic activities
remains crucial to Taiwan's macroeconomic development. |
The government began to act on the consensus of
"proactive liberalization with effective management" reached
by the Economic Development Advisory Conference in August 2001.
Since then, excessive attention has been placed on the liberalization
aspect without an equivalent emphasis being placed on the more
important aspect of effective management. As a result, Taiwan's
dependence on Chinese markets in terms of both trade and investment
has deepened. For instance, exports to China, including Hong
Kong, accounted for 36.7 percent of Taiwan's total exports in
2004. Meanwhile, capital, technology, and human resources have
been relocating to China, local industries have been hollowed
out, and structural unemployment has been experienced. The absence
of an effective economic and trade order across the Taiwan Strait
has increased Taiwan's risks in such activities. This is also
hampering Taiwan from achieving the ultimate goal of sustainable
development within trends towards global integration. On April
5, 2005, President Chen held a Joint Meeting Responding to New
Developments of Cross-strait Political and Economic Affairs,
which was attended by officials from the Office of the President,
Executive Yuan, governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP),
and DPP caucus in the Legislative Yuan. During this meeting,
President Chen gave the following instructions regarding cross-strait
economic and trade activities: "We must not proceed hastily
with liberalization while neglecting the most fundamental and
most important part of our policy-that of 'effective management.'
The national security agencies and the Executive branch should
make a prompt reassessment of and adjustments to relevant economic
and trade policies." |
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III. |
Implications of President Chen Shui-bian's New Year's
Day Message for the government's current cross-strait policies |
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A. No changes to the government's cross-strait
policies |
The central meaning of President Chen's New Year's
Day Message is consistent with the principles and directions
of the cross-strait policies pursued over recent years. These
were made in response to changes in the political and economic
situation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. This demonstrates
that the government's fundamental stance on its cross-strait
policies remains unchanged. Peace and development are still
the main axis, and maintaining the stability of cross-strait
situations is still the paramount goal. The government will
uphold its principles of reinforcing Taiwan's identity, defending
overall national interests, stabilizing cross-strait relations,
and dutifully bearing the shared responsibility to maintain
regional prosperity and security. At the same time it will steadily
promote cross-strait exchanges and continue to help realize
formal dialogue and consultation between the two sides in order
to improve cross-strait relations. |
B. Implementation of the cross-strait economic
and trade policy of "proactive management and effective liberalization" |
The core concept within the "proactive management
and effective liberalization" policy presented in President
Chen's New Year's Day Message is that the government should
"proactively" undertake the responsibility for "management,"
while "effectively" reducing risks associated with "liberalization."
This does not mean tightening restrictions on cross-strait exchanges,
and certainly does not imply "closing Taiwan off from the world."
Rather, it seeks to transcend the dichotomy between "opening
up" and "tightening up." Under the prerequisites of safeguarding
Taiwan's identity and overall national interests while implementing
management, the government will promote in an orderly way the
policy of liberalizing cross-strait economy and trade. By so
doing, Taiwan will fulfill its strategic goal of globalization,
thereby reducing the reliance on China's economy. |
C. Responding to Taiwan's popular will |
Numerous public opinion polls conducted over recent
years have shown that a majority of Taiwan's people advocate
making the safeguarding of overall national interests a priority,
and agree only to conditional exchange and liberalization measures.
Results of the most recent public opinion poll on current cross-strait
relations, which was conducted by the Taiwan Thinktank between
January 3 and 5 following President Chen's New Year's Day Message,
showed that 74 percent of respondents are worried that Taiwan's
economy is over-reliant on China, 66 percent of the public agree
that the government must step up its proactive management, while
as high as almost 70 percent believe that the government must
increase management and decrease liberalization measures, or
open up only those measures that can be managed. This demonstrates
that the people of Taiwan are very concerned about cross-strait
relations and whether Taiwan's interests can be safeguarded
during such exchanges. The directions of cross-strait economic
and trade policies as announced by the president are in line,
therefore, with Taiwan's popular will. |
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IV. |
Implementation of follow-up measures for the "proactive
management and effective liberalization" policy |
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In accordance with President Chen's New Year's Day Message,
concrete measures to be adopted by the government include the strengthening
of the macroeconomic development strategy of "deeply cultivating Taiwan
while reaching out to the world." Moreover, based on broader global
integration, it will seek to implement economic liberalization policies
that can effectively reduce overall risks. The government will coordinate
with relevant agencies to strengthen management mechanisms and the
agencies' powers in relation to such economic aspects as China-bound
investment; cross-strait trade, agriculture, and finance; the "mini-three-links";
shipping; and visits to Taiwan by citizens of China. It is expected
that such proactive management will lead to further liberalization
and create room for increased opportunities. In addition, the government
will continue to promote the orderly implementation of liberalization
policies through negotiation on cross-strait economy and trade. |
V. |
Conclusion |
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Since the transfer of ruling power between political
parties in 2000, the underlying principle and goal of this government's
cross-strait policy has always been "reconciliation with goodwill,
active cooperation, and enduring peace." Looked at in terms of progress
in cross-strait relations over the past five years, however, Taiwan's
efforts are yet to meet with positive response from China. Moreover,
realization of the goal of normalizing cross-strait relations does
not seem likely in the foreseeable future. President Chen's 2006 New
Year's Day Message drew, in fact, on the accumulated experience from
the five-year evolution of cross-strait relations. It proposed new
ideas and methods for the next stage in developing relations based
on a philosophy of consolidating the core value of Taiwan identity,
thereby establishing new targets for the sustainable development of
Taiwan's economy and effective defense of national interests. |
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Q&A |
Q1. |
Does President Chen's New Year's Day Message represent
an adjustment (i.e. a tightening) of the government's cross-strait
policy? |
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A: |
While cross-strait exchanges are
being promoted, the people of Taiwan must be reminded to pay
extra attention to certain key aspects as a response to the
more hard-line nature of China's policies toward Taiwan. These
aspects include the safeguarding of national interests and
security, and consolidation of government authority. Simplification
of President Chen's New Year's Day Message into a matter of
either liberalizing or tightening cross-strait policies is
a serious distortion of facts. The government will not be
swayed from its pursuit of peace and development in cross-strait
relations, nor from its fundamental policies that seek to
safeguard the greater interests of the nation. It will continue
to play an active role in bringing stability to the Taiwan
Strait and security to the entire region. |
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Q2. |
Was President Chen's New Year's Day Message aimed
at closing ranks with his supporters and proponents of independence? |
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A: |
As the head of state, President
Chen of course bases his New Year's Day Message on the overall
development and popular opinion trends of the nation and does
not target specific persons. His emphasis on Taiwan consciousness,
for example, was made out of concern for the consolidation
of national identity and defense of national interest. Similarly,
his statement that cross-strait relations should adhere to
the four principles of sovereignty, democracy, peace, and
parity is based on a previous consensus that transcends political
parties, factions, and ethnic groups, and his advocacy of
introducing a "proactive management and effective liberalization"
policy for handling cross-strait economic and trade affairs
has the goal of raising Taiwan's competitiveness and accelerating
the process of its global integration.
The president's message, in its totality, is a clear announcement
of the directions of Taiwan's future development and of his
government's administration. |
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Q3. |
Will the government be adopting tighter restrictions
on future cross-strait economic and trade exchanges? |
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A: |
As long as national interests and
national identity are protected, cross-strait economic and
trade policies and principles will not be changed. These policies
are not a matter of relaxation or tightening, therefore, but
serve as guiding principles for various government agencies
under the Executive Yuan to formulate and implement concrete
and effective management measures. "Opening of Taiwan to tourists
from China" and "passenger and cargo charter flights," for
example, are already designated as elements of the government's
cross-strait economic and trade policies. These will be promoted
through bilateral economic and trade negotiations, and with
effective management, thereby realizing liberalization in
an orderly manner. |
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Q4. |
Will President Chen's announcement of further constitutional
reform create cross-strait tension? |
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A: |
The promotion of constitutional
reengineering to reestablish order within the constitutional
government not only is in line with the expectation of Taiwan's
people but also has attained a consensus from both the ruling
and opposition parties. The main elements in the next stage
of constitutional reform aim to enhance people's fundamental
rights and interests, improve the political system, and raise
Taiwan's overall competitiveness. China needs to gain an accurate
understanding of Taiwan's democratization, as this will assist
in the normalization of cross-strait relations and be a concrete
expression of respect for the wishes of the Taiwan people. |
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Q5. |
Will a referendum for a new constitution inflame
the cross-strait situation? |
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A: |
As a process of democratic deliberation
that operates "from bottom to top," "from outside to inside,"
and "from society to political parties," the second stage
of Taiwan's constitutional reform only requires that society
is mature enough. President Chen therefore looks forward to
a referendum on a new constitution being held in 2007. The
constitutional reengineering project is both a democratic
constitutional procedure and the normal functioning of a democratic
system. As China does not understand the spirit and operation
of democratic politics, it twists the true significance of
Taiwan's constitutional reengineering project. China makes
deliberate use of this to escalate tensions in the Taiwan
Strait. |
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Q6. |
Does Taiwan's promotion of constitutional reform
represent a reneging on the Five Noes policy? |
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A: |
A precondition of the Five Noes
policy is that China has no intention to attack Taiwan. Taiwan's
stance on maintaining the status quo of peace and stability
in the Taiwan Strait remains unchanged. If the two sides are
committed to peace and stability, and China ceases its substantive
military threat to Taiwan, there will not be any issue of
"reneging on the Five Noes." |
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