Sat, Feb 17, 2024 page3

• Taiwan never stopped seeking China talks, President Tsai says

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  Taiwan has never stopped seeking to resume dialogue with China and would continue to do so, as long as it can be achieved on the basis of dignity and parity, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday at a Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) banquet attended by Taiwanese who do business in China.

  Taiwan would continue to explore the possibility of resuming dialogue with China in the hope that orderly exchanges will gradually resume, which is in the interests of people on both sides and conducive to promoting prosperity in the region, Tsai said.

  She also thanked Taiwanese businesspeople for working with her administration over the past eight years by branching out to more countries and diversifying export markets, which helped regulate cross-strait trade and boosted Taiwan’s economic performance internationally.

  

  President Tsai Ing-wen, center, and other officials toast attendees at a Lunar New Year banquet held by the Straits Exchange Foundation in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times

  While Taiwan faces geopolitically induced economic uncertainties, the country nonetheless has adopted a “non-provocative and prudent” stance and proved itself to be a reliable partner in the international community, she said.

  “We have remained committed to defending Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, and walked shoulder-to-shoulder with our international allies toward the world,” and Taiwanese businesspeople play an indispensable part in bringing Taiwan to the world and maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, she said.

  Tsai also touted the economic policies and achievements of her administration, including the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade, the New Southbound Policy, the signing of a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with Canada and the Three Major Programs for Investing in Taiwan, which encourages Taiwanese businesspeople to exit the Chinese market and instead invest in Taiwan, including by providing rent subsidies and loans to small and medium-sized enterprises.

  Yeh Fei-cheng (葉飛呈), honorary chair of the Zhuhai Association of Taiwan Businesses, told reporters on the sidelines of the event that cross-strait ties have been rather “inconvenient” compared with when former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was in office, and especially so after Vice President William Lai (賴清德), a self-described “practical worker for Taiwan independence,” won last month’s presidential election.

  It is the shared hope of Taiwanese businesspeople that Lai will refrain from talking about or signaling Taiwanese independence after he takes office to prevent Beijing from making any unnecessary politically motivated moves, Yeh said.

  Businessman Wang En-kuo (王恩國), who is an adviser to the SEF, said he hopes Beijing realizes that Taiwan would not make any abrupt changes to the “status quo.”

  Beijing thinks the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will push for independence, but it has not done so in its 16 years as Taiwan’s ruling party, Wang said, adding that the US would not allow Taiwan to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the Strait.

  Hopefully Beijing would realize that cross-strait relations have historically been reasonably cordial when US-China relations are good, but with US-China rivalry intensifying, it is only natural that Taiwan, as a member of the democratic alliance, will lean closer to the US, he said.

  The DPP should recognize that the Chinese leadership is obligated to push for unification and must respond to its people’s desire for a “unified China,” Wang said.

  Hopefully the DPP will work to de-escalate tensions and not recklessly trigger China with actions or language Beijing might consider provocative, he said.

  SEF Chairman David Lee (李大維) said that cross-strait relations did not have to be a “battle to the death,” but could be mutually advantageous, while also calling on the two sides to engage in dialogue without preconditions.

  Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said that Lai has said he would continue Tsai’s cross-strait policy and called on China to be rational in its attitude toward Taiwan’s new administration after Lai is sworn in on May 20.

  Maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait is the responsibility of both sides, Chiu said.
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