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A unified cross-strait policy for candidates

Both the ruling and opposition parties tried to sell their cross-strait policies to China-based Taiwanese businesspeople during their stay in Taiwan over the Mid-Autumn Festival. Politicians attempted to attract these businesspeople's votes in next year's presidential election by promising to start cross-strait talks on direct links.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) promised to kick off negotiations immediately if he and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) win the election. Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) unveiled the Cabinet's plan to assess the possibility of turning Kinmen into either an export processing zone or an offshore transshipment zone.

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxian (唐家璇) stressed that Beijing always has been positive toward direct links but he would not like to see Taiwan-ese politicians manipulate the issue for electoral gain.

In fact, Taiwanese business-people in China's only interests are purely financial. They do not have a strong interest in politics; they just want to make money. But they often find themselves bombarded with news about favorable cross-strait policies during election campaigns. Again and again, they feel nothing but deceived after elections, because no matter which party wins the election, promises to open up direct links fail to come true.

These China-based business-people of course know that the years of political deadlock across the Taiwan Strait are not all the fault of the Taiwanese authorities. Beijing's ideological insistence on a unified China with Taiwan in it also has to share the blame. However, what really bewilders them is the question of why Taiwan's political parties are unable to work out a common plan to deal with China since their cross-strait policies are not that different from one another?

None of the presidential candidates are really thinking of the best interests of China-based Taiwanese businessmen or trying to build a political consensus before negotiating with Beijing. They merely exploit the issue to attack their rivals and win votes.

The rights of these business-people have been trampled time and again in the struggle between politicians. They can't help but wonder if they really can trust their mother country to be their political base, or if it is time for them to consider China their ultimate destination. A mixed feeling of love and hatred thus starts to grow and as a result, they become indifferent to the next presidential election.

Regardless of Beijing's future response to Taiwan's cross-strait policies, the presidential candidates should consider how to bring back these businesspeople. Favorable cross-strait policies announced during the presidential election are not enough. They should utilize available political and financial forces and mechanisms to help make China-based Taiwanese businesses more competitive. Then the businesspeople would no longer feel that they are political victims who are forsaken after elections.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Lien and Soong should discard electoral concerns and appropriately deal with cross-strait policies and the issue of investing in China. Continued denunciation or distortion of their rivals' cross-strait policies do not help. A cross-party conference should be held before the end of this year to work out a solution to the cross-strait standoff, which would then be used as a common policy during the election campaign. Then no matter who takes the office, Beijing will be able to negotiate direct links with the government.

I believe this is what a responsible political leader should do. It is essential to peaceful coexistence and common prosperity across the Taiwan Strait.

Chen Sung-shan is a member of the Civil Service Protection and Training Commission.

Translated by Jennie Shih
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