The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday reacted strongly to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) revelation in an interview that he was ready to engage in political talks with Beijing once economic issues are resolved, saying that such a move did not have public support.
Not only are Taiwanese opposed to the idea, DPP spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said, but they also have little confidence the president could protect Taiwan’s sovereignty in the process.
“The DPP’s position is that any cross-strait talks cannot include -political preconditions,” he said.
One of the preconditions the opposition party would vehemently oppose is the “one China” principle, he said, which Beijing invariably imposes.
On Ma’s remarks that economic issues would be prioritized before political talks could commence, Lin said it was too early to tell whether Taiwan’s economy had rebounded.
Living conditions have yet to improve and many families still face a lot of financial pressure, he said.
“Add this to still high unemployment figures that are showing no signs of going down and you see that not many people have confidence in the president,” he said.
As a result, he said Ma’s remarks in the interview were empty and a distraction from the larger economic issues.
“Under such circumstances, there is [no way] the president can begin political negotiations with Beijing,” Lin said.
At a different setting yesterday, where Ma addressed topics the DPP identified as concerning, the president said he was in no hurry to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), saying it was more important for both sides to build mutual trust before moving to more complicated matters, such as establishing a military confidence-building mechanism (CBM).
“What is the point of meeting if we haven’t done our homework?” he said. “If we don’t do our homework, it’s better not to meet at all.”
Although cross-strait CBMs are important — especially on military matters — what is even more important is that both sides build mutual trust, Ma said, adding that the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) had a good effect in that regard.
Ma said he understood “some people” had doubts about engaging China and so the speed at which relations are improved with Beijing need not be increased.
His administration would continue to tackle the easier economic issues before moving toward more difficult and political issues, he said.
“It is a long road to build more mutual trust,” Ma said. “We will proceed gradually and steadily.”
What his administration was trying to achieve, Ma said, was to make up for the “lost eight years” under the DPP administration.
Ma said the fact that no system was in place between the two “economic entities” was “beyond comprehension.”
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