Accept the ROC, Chen tells China

China should acknowledge the reality of the Republic of China and accept Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as its head, the president said yesterday.

Chen also said yesterday that the "one China" question should be solved according to the ROC Constitution.

"I was elected by the citizens of the ROC," Chen said yesterday during a meeting with US Senator Christopher Bond. "If cross-strait affairs are to see any progress, then [China] must take into consideration the ROC Constitution to resolve differences on both sides of the Strait."

Chen said the ROC Constitution was "the best answer for dealing with the `one China' issue for the governments and people of both sides of the Taiwan Strait."

The president had previously mentioned a need to discuss the "one China" question, but yesterday was the first time he specifically suggested using the Constitution to settle the problem.

The idea that the "one China" dispute be settled according to the Constitution is in itself nothing new. But scholars are divided as to what a solution would entail, as the document is vague as to what the relationship is between the ROC and the People's Republic of China.

While Article 4 of the Constitution claims the entire territory of Taiwan and the mainland as belonging to the ROC, other parts of additional articles to the Constitution added in the 1990s imply that the mainland is a separate political jurisdiction. The document states specifically, however, that the ROC is a democracy.

China insists that Taiwan must accept its version of "one China" before any negotiations between both sides can begin.

"If Communist China were to decline to accept this reality, it would violate the ROC Constitution. Not only me, but also the 23 million people of Taiwan could not accept such a scenario," Chen said.

In Chen's inaugural address, he addressed cross-strait issues by referring to a "future one China."

During his New Year's eve remarks, Chen said that "one China" should not be an issue according to the Constitution.

But the Presidential Office said yesterday that Chen's comments were not a response to a recent petition from 14 national policy advisors that urged him to firmly acknowledge "one China" under the ROC Constitution's framework.

The petition was initiated by Hsu Wun-pin (許文彬).

Hsu and the other policy advisors have suggested that Chen use the Constitution to break new ground in cross-strait relations prior to the gathering of the Economic Development Advisory Conference.

Chen Ming-tong (陳明通), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said yesterday that Chen's remarks were not a signal that the president's stance was shifting closer to that of China's.

"President Chen has expressed the same ideology as during his inauguration speech," the official said, adding that the government would never accept the "one China" principle according to China's definition.

Su Chi (蘇起), the former chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said that he doesn't see anything new in Chen's remark.

"Chen should have said something important when Senator Joseph Biden visited, but not today," Su said.

Chen also yesterday reiterated his idea that the informal leadership meeting of the APEC forum -- which will be held in Shanghai in October -- provides a good setting for the top leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to meet.