A proposed peace agreement with China would aim to build a firewall against a possible war across the Taiwan Strait, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday as he accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of trying to portray his efforts as an attempt to sell out Taiwan.
Responding to DPP criticism that Ma’s proposed cross-strait peace pact was tantamount to surrender, Ma, who also serves as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, said former presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), as well as DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), had all proposed similar mechanisms to maintain cross-strait peace, adding that the DPP should not slap the red label of communism on him because of his proposed peace pact.
“Why are their proposals symbols of their love for Taiwan, while my proposed pact is an attempt to sell out Taiwan? Is it logical? It’s unreasonable,” he said yesterday while addressing the KMT’s Central Standing Committee in Lujhou District (蘆洲), New Taipei City (新北市).
Photo: CNA
Ma said that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait maintained the “status quo” of the “three noes” — no unification, no independence and no use of force — and that his proposed peace agreement was based on the principle of “no use of force,” adding that he hoped the two sides would not resort to non-peaceful measures to resolve cross-strait issues.
Ma repeated that the peace pact would only be signed if the nation needed it, there was strong domestic support and with legislative supervision.
“Public support on the issue should be measured through a referendum. Without the support of a referendum, we don’t think we would have enough strength to negotiate with China on the issue,” he said.
The proposed peace agreement, he said, would be a preventive measure to avoid cross-strait conflict in the future.
Signing a peace agreement with China was one of the proposals Ma outlined for what he called a “golden decade,” one of the planks in his re-election campaign platform. The proposed peace talks drew criticism from Tsai and the DPP, who accused Ma of risking Taiwan’s sovereignty and democratic values.
Ma urged the DPP to avoid engaging in a smear campaign against the proposed peace pact and said the two parties should work together to seek peace across the Taiwan Strait.
“The Republic of China [ROC] is our nation, and Taiwan is our homeland. We are Taiwanese and citizens of the ROC ... I love Taiwan and I love the ROC. I believe the majority of Taiwanese agree with me,” he said.
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