April 27, 2007
Mainland Affairs Council
1. Taiwan is determined to adhere to national sovereignty and to uphold democracy and peace:
(1) The “Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum” to be jointly held by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing is part of civilian exchange activities between political parties across the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwanese government believes that in order to truly improve cross-strait relations, it is inevitable that the two governments across the Strait should engage in direct dialogue and negotiations. From the perspective of the issues addressed at the forum and China’s propagandistic manipulation of this event, it is evident that the forum actually provides a platform for Beijing to declare its position to the outside world and to implement its divisive tactics against Taiwan. It has clearly highlighted the fact that the Chinese government has established a political framework with the aim of avoiding communication and dialogue with the Taiwanese government.
(2) Taiwan will not waver in its adherence to the democratic system and its determination on cross-strait peace. Taiwan will continue to promote democratic deepening and national identity and consciousness, and make every effort to become a normal country. Being a member of the international community, Taiwan takes pride in its democratic achievements. As such, it is imperative for Taiwan to safeguard the right of free choice of every Taiwanese people and to meet the people’s expectations and demands for democratic deepening. China’s attempts to oppose democracy by using military force will undermine regional peace and global democratic values, indicating China's ignorance and vilification of those values. In spite of China’s statement that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should peacefully develop, China has continued to strengthen its military deployment against Taiwan and to suppress Taiwan diplomatically, showing no sincerity at all in improving cross-strait relations. In other words, China says one thing and does another.
2. The government actively promotes cross-strait exchange and interaction:
In setting the priorities for Taiwan’s policies on cross-strait exchanges, the Taiwanese government has taken into account the overall cross-strait, international and domestic situation. This policy is implemented in a sequential and orderly manner with the government taking initiative. The government has taken the initiative in promoting issues such as charter flights, tourism, the signing of agreements to protect Taiwanese investments in China, the promotion of cultural exchanges and others. In the future, the government will actively promote the holding of negotiations with China to engage in healthy cross-strait interactions.
3. Matters involving government authority must be authorized and directed by the government:
(1) Any Taiwanese political party or civilian organization visiting China for exchanges must abide by Taiwan’s relevant laws and regulations. When exchange issues involve matters subject to government authority, they must be authorized and directed by the government. China does not respect the development of public opinion in Taiwan, and it is attempting, through interactions with Taiwan's opposition political parties, to consider publishing documents expounding on the so-called cross-strait peaceful development or to sign a document with preconditions. This ignores not only the reality that Taiwan and China have no jurisdiction over each other, but also the right of the Taiwanese people to decide their future. The Taiwanese government will never recognize this and will resolutely oppose any content that undermines Taiwan’s national sovereignty. Taiwan is an independent sovereign country and will absolutely not accept an orientation of cross-strait relations based on the “one China” principle unilaterally established by China.
(2) There is no such thing as the so-called “1992 consensus” reached by both sides of the Taiwan Strait. During the 1992 meeting held in Hong Kong, both sides across the Strait adopted an attitude of “setting aside disputes, engaging in pragmatic negotiations, and showing mutual respect” toward jointly resolving various cross-strait issues. However, both sides did not reach the so-called “1992 consensus on the ‘one China’ principle.” The Chinese authorities have always demanded that Beijing’s “one China” framework should be used as a model for cross-strait negotiations, thereby establishing barriers to such negotiations. The Taiwanese government urges that the Beijing authorities should respect the cross-strait reality and, based on the “results achieved at the 1992 Hong Kong meeting,” resolve differences between both sides through formal negotiations.