The government must develop a new approach to governing the nation and create a public consensus on its China policy, newly appointed Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said yesterday.
Chang also said that a meeting between President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) would be extremely difficult to arrange in the short term.
Chang, a former premier and secretary-general of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said the new generation of Chinese leaders is adopting a more flexible strategy regarding Taiwan, and that it was crucial for the nation to build a domestic consensus on cross-strait affairs, to find a breakthrough in cross-strait interaction and to implement a new approach to governing the country.
"Before, the people of Taiwan adopted an uncompromising attitude toward China's missile threat. However, China has changed its strategy over time and is now using softer tactics toward Taiwan," he said.
Examples of this were inviting the opposition parties' leaders to China, allowing customs-duty exemptions for Taiwanese products and opening the Chinese market to Taiwanese fruit, he said.
"Many of our people are confused over whether China's actions amount to goodwill or are just part of its unification war," he said.
In this regard, Chang said he had advised the DPP to adjust its China policy and develop a new theory of governance so that a public consensus on cross-strait relations could gradually emerge.
"I think that the government is obliged to explain to the people its new discourse and direction in governing the country and make them understand the government's dilemma and limitations in Taiwan-China affairs," he said.
Speaking on a potential Chen-Hu meeting, Chang said that although Chen was quite confident about arranging a conference with Hu, such a significant meeting could not possibly be decided unilaterally.
"The world situation is also crucial to any Chen-Hu meeting," Chang said.
"The president has hopes for a meeting but he is patient and is not in a hurry," he said.
Careful preparation, proper timing and mutual trust are indispensable elements for a successful meeting between the leaders of both sides, he said.
"However, to be frank, facilitating a Chen-Hu meeting is still a task of considerable difficulty for the near future," he said.
Chang suggested that the next three years offered a golden opportunity for the two sides to build a channel for negotiations.
"From now until 2008 there will be a more stable period for both sides, which I think is the best time for resuming cross-strait dialogue. If we miss it, it will be hard to say when the next time may be," Chang said.
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