President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) called on China to change its thinking and extend goodwill in its relationship with Taiwan, according to an interview published yesterday by the Chinese-language United Daily News.
In a front page article, the United Daily News reported that Tsai said stable cross-strait ties would also benefit China.
China should consider how it can use an attitude of goodwill in its approach, the newspaper paraphrased Tsai as saying.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The global situation is changing and it takes both sides to keep peace and stability in bilateral relations, she said.
Tsai has previously said she wants to maintain peaceful ties without bowing to pressure from China. She has said she would maintain the “status quo,” but has not conceded to the “one China” principle.
Asked how she sees ties developing with China after a key Chinese Communist Party congress later this year, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is expected to further consolidate his power, Tsai said any political decisionmaker should be prepared for all possible outcomes.
The interview, Tsai’s second within a week, is likely aimed at laying the ground before a speech she is expected to give on May 20 to mark the one-year anniversary of her inauguration.
China slammed Tsai’s inaugural address last year as offering an “incomplete answer” to what it called an exam on bilateral relations.
In an interview with Reuters last week, Tsai said: “Why not say we both are facing a new exam. We also look forward to China using a different perspective to face this new exam.”
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