MAC’s three-point formal declaration regarding KMT-CCP’s “Cross-Strait Economic and Trade Forum”
With regard to the “Cross-Strait Economic and Trade Forum” held between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing, the MAC issued the following three-point formal declaration today (April 14, 2006):
1. The KMT-CCP “Cross-Strait Economic and Trade Forum” was an exchange activity between individual political parties across the Strait. Although the Forum’s participants came from various sectors, the nature of the Forum was a party-to-party exchange. The Taiwanese government has clearly indicated on many occasions that any political party visiting China to engage in exchanges must safeguard the country’s overall interests, abide by the government’s regulations, and fully express the mainstream opinion of the Taiwanese people. The government will maintain a positive attitude and expect the opposition party to take advantage of the Forum to initiate and clarify political issues that have been hindering normalized cross-strait interactions. The KMT must specifically demand China to concretely explain whether the so-called “1992 Consensus” contains the acknowledgement of the sovereignty of the Republic of China, which the opposition parties have claimed. At the very minimum, both the KMT and the CCP must make a public statement to show that their statements are consistent with each other. This is to allow KMT members to play their part as citizens of the Republic of China (ROC) and help facilitate the resumption of formal cross-strait negotiations.
2. With regard to the status of cross-strait relations, the Taiwanese government has always insisted that the ROC is an independent sovereign country; its sovereignty belongs to the 23 million people of Taiwan. We also acknowledge that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is an independent sovereign country and the real cross-strait status quo is that both sides have no jurisdiction over each other. If China does not deny this reality and respects the fact of the ROC’s existence, then it should immediately cease its attempts to eliminate the ROC by force; repeal the so-called “anti-separation law” (ASL) that has threatened Taiwan’s democracy and the safety of the Taiwanese people and their properties, and sabotaged cross-strait peace and stability; and abandon taking all arbitrary actions and irrational suppressions of Taiwan in the international arena. The MAC announced today the results of a public opinion survey that showed 76.6 percent of the Taiwanese people agreed that “Taiwan is an independent sovereign country,” and 84 percent of the respondents advocated that Taiwan’s future should be “decided by the Taiwanese people themselves.” Moreover, 56.1 percent of the public believed that matters involving the exercise of government authority must be handled by the government or a government authorized agency. China’s leaders today have again maliciously criticized and deliberately distorted the concept of Taiwan’s sovereignty belonging to its people. This has fully shown that the Chinese authorities have never had the sincerity to respect Taiwanese people’s right to determine their own future. Taiwan’s opposition parties must utilize their visits to China as opportunities to urge the Chinese authorities to reexamine their Taiwan policy, which seriously runs against the public opinions and the democratic values of the Taiwanese people. China should correct its mistaken policy soon.
3. With regard to the issues raised by China on cross-strait exchanges in the past year, the Taiwanese government has in fact already completed the planning for promotion and proposed corresponding recommendations. Moreover, the agencies appointed and authorized by both governments have even contacted each other. They have communicated and negotiated on some of the issues, which has resulted in a certain level of progress. However, the Chinese authorities have made various political considerations and deliberately delayed the promulgation of related regulations and accompanying measures, therefore obstructing further progress on these issues. A few days ago, officials from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office declared to the media that “everything is ready, but is pending approval of the Taiwanese authorities.” This is entirely incorrect and constitutes a distortion of the facts. The Taiwanese government has been consistent in promoting relevant cross-strait issues and its planned policies. Taiwan has maintained an open attitude toward various issues. These include: allowing Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan, cargo and passengers charter flights, Taiwanese agricultural exports to China, repatriation of criminal and economic offenders, investment protection for Taiwanese businessmen in China, and intellectual property rights. Moreover, Taiwan has been willing to conduct pragmatic negotiations with China on related problems. Since these issues involve the exercise of government authority, their negotiations have to be conducted under the government’s guidance in accordance with the law. We urge the opposition party to take advantage of the KMT-CCP Forum, to cooperate and discuss together with the government regarding possible results that can be achieved with China on related economic and trade issues. In addition, it should encourage China to adopt a positive attitude to resume dialogues and negotiations with Taiwan. This is aimed at initiating normalized cross-strait exchanges and interactions.