President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday invited Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) to visit Taiwan to experience democracy and freedom and to see "if Taiwan is a country with independent sovereignty."
China reacted coolly to Chen's invitation, however, rejecting any official contact until the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) dropped a clause in its charter calling for formal independence.
"Conditions for dialogue and consultations between us and Chen Shui-bian as well as the Democratic Progressive Party is recognition of the 1992 consensus, which embodies the `one China' principle, giving up the Taiwan independence party constitution of the DPP, as well as putting an end to splittist activities,'' said Wang Zaixi (王在希), an official at the Chinese Communist Party's Taiwan Work Office.
PHOTO: LIAO CHENG-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES
"So long as these conditions are met, we can resume dialogue and consultations with Chen Shui-bian and the DPP," Wang said.
Speaking hours before the return of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) to Taipei from China, Chen said he also wanted Hu to consider whether the "1992 consensus" actually existed.
"If there is not such a thing, I would like the Chinese leaders not to mention it anymore," he said.
Chen said the purported consensus between envoys from Beijing and Taipei -- preparing for talks between late Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) and his counterpart, Wang Daohan (汪道涵) -- was not recognized by Taipei.
"The `1992 consensus' is a term created by former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (
Chen said the Chinese leadership did not understand Taiwan and had been invited on more than one occasion to visit Taiwan.
"I am not worried if he [Hu] comes. I am only concerned that he might refuse to come. If he visits Taiwan, Hu will understand what 23 million Taiwanese people really want," he said.
Chen was responding to reporters' questions on whether he would ask People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
On the third day of his trip to the Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu, Chen said he had invited Chinese leaders to visit Taiwan many times since he took office in 2000.
Taiwan is a free country, Chen said, adding that Hu could ask any questions he liked and conduct surveys on what the public thinks if he came.
But Chen yesterday urged the public not to worry about the recent pro-China sentiments of pan-blue camp leaders and their visits to China. He instead asked the Taiwanese people to vote for their preferred National Assembly candidates on May 14.
But during the press conference, the trips to China by Lien and Soong were the focus.
"Again, I would urge my fellow Taiwanese to relax, because they do not have to worry about Lien and Soong or any other politicians' possible trips to China," he said. "Those pro-China people are not my worry. What I really worry about is the election on May 14."
Chen urged the public to support the DPP so that the National Assembly could cut in half the number of legislative seats, reform voting structures and ultimately replace the assembly with referendums.
Chen said these three goals were negotiated and agreed to by all the major parties. However, he said, "some of these parties" changed their minds after the legislative elections in December.
"If a political party reneges and changes its policy just like that, then this means it will also cheat voters just as easily," Chen said. "I have not changed my policies since I took my oath of office in 2000 ... nothing will change and our goals will not be realized if people do not care about the election. This worries me a lot."
Speaking again on cross-strait matters, Chen said that he was not worried because he has good communication with Lien and Soong.
On the first day of his trip, Chen told reporters that he had asked Soong to "deliver some messages" to Chinese officials when he visits China. When asked what messages he gave Soong, Chen replied that it was not proper for him to make them public.
Chen said the conversation between him and Soong was also private and that he intended to keep it that way.
"Regardless of what I told him, my bottom line never changes. Taiwan's sovereignty must be recognized and respected." Chen said.
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
‘COMMITTED TO DETERRENCE’: Washington would stand by its allies, but it can only help as much as countries help themselves, Raymond Greene said The US is committed to deterrence in the first island chain, but it should not bear the burden alone, as “freedom is not free,” American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said in a speech at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research’s “Strengthening Resilience: Defense as the Engine of Development” seminar in Taipei yesterday. In the speech, titled “Investing Together and a Secure and Prosperous Future,” Greene highlighted the contributions of US President Donald Trump’s administration to Taiwan’s defense efforts, including the establishment of supply chains for drones and autonomous systems, offers of security assistance and the expansion of
RSS