In finally unveiling his cross-strait policy yesterday, independent presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) proposed that Taiwan and China sign a 30-year "mutual non-aggression peace treaty," which would be followed by a 20-year agreement basing relations on a European Union model.
Soong's running mate, Chang Chao-hsiung (
But political analysts said such a scheme would never be acceptable to China as it would entail recognizing Taiwan as an equal.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Soong also proposed that cross-strait relations be based on a "quasi-international relationship under relevant sovereignty (
Using such a definition, Soong called for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to sign a non-aggression pact, countries such as the US, Japan and ASEAN members.
When the 30-year agreement expires, both parties -- if they are not interested in changing the status quo -- should sign another 20-year agreement defining their relations based on the model of the European Union and in the status of sovereign nations, Soong said.
After that, he said, the people of Taiwan should determine whether to continue the process of integration.
When asked under what status Taiwan should sign the proposed 30-year non-aggression treaty with China, Chang replied: "Under the status of a nation. Signatories should be under the names of the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China."
This would never be palatable to China, according to political analysts.
"The real question here is China's attitude," said Joseph Wu (
Other scholars agreed.
"I'm afraid Beijing is not going to accept such a proposal. It's still a stalemate," said Hsu Szu-chien (
Hsu was equally scathing of Soong's rivals, however.
"None of these irresponsible presidential candidates has so far put forward any feasible proposal for dealing with the problem of cross-strait relations," Hsu said. "Candidates have to face the fact that there is a crisis, and they should be creative in devising ways to deal with it. The key is to involve the US and other Western countries, to use international frameworks such as the WTO, and forces for reform inside China."
Soong also took the occasion yesterday to rebut criticism from his opponents that he had been vague in his China policy.
"I am not ambiguous. I am neither for hasty unification nor for hasty independence, both of which are not mainstream ideas in Taiwan," Soong said. "My cross-strait policy is unambiguously aligned with mainstream public opinion in Taiwan."
While candidates try to pick holes in their rivals' China policies and to promote their own as somehow different, analysts said that all three of the main candidates' positions are virtually the same.
"In essence, all three are no different in their China policy," Wu said. "But this is good. It shows that people in Taiwan have built a strong consensus on the issue."
See Also:
Editorial
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS