President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday commended communication between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but said the party-to-party platform would not set the agenda for cross-strait relations.
“Today, political parties can no longer dictate government policies,” he said. “The party must cooperate with the government and help promote its policies. At the same time, it must act with propriety, because only by doing so can operations involving the two run smoothly.”
Ma made the remarks while meeting KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) at the Presidential Office yesterday morning.
Wu embarks on a trip to China today to attend a KMT-CCP forum amid speculation that Ma is interested in taking over Wu’s post as KMT head.
Wu told Ma that the KMT and CCP realized that the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), were the sole agencies authorized by their governments to sign cross-strait agreements.
Wu said the annual KMT-CCP economic forum was merely a communication platform for all private groups interested in cross-strait dialogue, Wu said.
The forum will be conducted according to the principles of equality and dignity, he said.
Ma said KMT-CCP meetings were helpful and that he hoped to see other private foundations and associations join forces with the KMT to stabilize and develop cross-strait ties.
Communication between the SEF and ARATS is insufficient, Ma said, adding that having more channels of communication available would help cross-strait relations stabilize.
Citing Japan as an example, Ma said Taiwan has 52 communication channels with Tokyo.
Washington and Beijing also have more than 60 lines of communication, he said.
While some have expressed concern that the KMT-CCP forum could dictate cross-strait development, Ma said this would not happen because all matters decided through cross-strait negotiations must be approved by the government and inked by the SEF and ARATS.
Ma also said his administration would continue to communicate with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on cross-strait policies and seek support from the opposition, which has voiced strong criticism of his China policies.
“But it is impossible for us to stop simply because of opposition by a few people,” he said. “In a democracy, it is important to respect the minority, but it is equally important to obey the majority and tolerate differences. If we bow to the pressure of a minority, it is not democratic, it is incompetent.”
Ma said he was happy to see Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the DPP visit China, adding that he hoped higher-level DPP representatives would follow suit.
“It is not the sole responsibility of the KMT to seek consensus,” he said. “The DPP has its responsibilities too.”
As the DPP is an opposition party, Ma said it should not fear allowing its leaders to visit China. China only stands to benefit from hearing a different voice on Taiwanese matters, he said.
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Taiwan yesterday issued warnings to four Chinese coast guard vessels that intruded into restricted waters around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA). The four China Coast Guard ships were detected approaching restricted waters south of Kinmen at around 2 pm yesterday, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu Branch said in a statement. The CGA said it immediately deployed four patrol boats to closely monitor the situation. When the Chinese ships with the hull numbers "14512," "14609," "14603" and "14602" separately entered the restricted waters off Fuhsing islet (復興嶼), Zhaishan (翟山), Sinhu (新湖) and Liaoluo (料羅) at 3 pm, the Taiwanese patrol
MUCH-NEEDED: After China demonstrated its capabilities to deploy vertical launching systems, Taiwan needs air defense systems such as NASAMS, a defense expert said The US’ approval of exports of three advanced air defense missile systems to Taiwan signified NATO’s goodwill toward the nation, a Taiwanese defense expert said. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Friday announced the US$1.16 billion sale of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) and the US$828 million sale of AN/TPS-77 and AN/TPS-78 radar turnkey systems. The NASAMS is a network that uses ground-launched Air Intercept Missile (AIM)-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to intercept hostile aircraft, drones and cruise missiles. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of defense strategy and resources at the state-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said
RSS