Attempts by Beijing to improve cross-strait relations would have to include a fundamental change in how China deals with issues concerning Taiwan, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday in response to the latest remarks by the Chinese leadership.
During a closed-door meeting on Saturday with Taiwan’s APEC envoy, former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) said the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should communicate and negotiate on issues pertaining to Taiwan’s participation in international organizations.
Such issues should be resolved through joint cross-strait negotiations “to avoid unnecessary internal friction and unpleasant events in the future,” Hu told Lien on the sidelines of the APEC meeting.
Tsai said it would be “too naive” for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to take Hu’s comments at face value, adding that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration had already tried to appease Beijing — with no results — for the past two years.
“[Hu’s] comments don’t have too much substantial meaning,” she said. “If Hu’s basic attitude and fundamental policies don’t change, none of this will resolve our problems.”
“That is why we call on [the Chinese leadership] and ask them to alter the attitude they use when dealing with Taiwan’s problems,” she added.
Lien attended the APEC leaders’ summit as Ma’s representative.
During Saturday’s meeting between Lien and Hu, the two referred to each other using their party titles, with Lien addressing Hu as “General-Secretary Hu,” and Hu addressing Lien as “Chairman,” since Lien is an honorary KMT chairman.
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