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MAC criticizes China's naming of panda pair

The final choices of names in the campaign the Chinese government launched to name the two giant pandas it wants to donate to Taiwan were decided on the Spring Festival program broadcasted China Central Television (CCTV) on Saturday, a move criticized by Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮).

According to China's official Xinhua news agency, "Tuantuan"(團團) and "Yuanyuan" (圓圓), both meaning reunion, were the favorite pair of names for the pandas.

But Wu said yesterday that China should not use the tactic of offering Taiwan pandas to make the false claim that Taiwan is part of its territory.

"The false claim will only mislead the international community and never be accepted by the Taiwanese people," Wu said.

Xinhua said that more than 100 million audience members of CCTV participated in the vote while the program was going on, picking one from 10 pairs of names which ranked the first 10 out of 70, 000 pairs of names solicited in an Internet campaign.

The Chinese government announced last May that it would send two giant pandas to Taiwan as a goodwill gesture to mark a visit to Beijing by then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰).

Since then China has held many activities to advertise its offer -- choosing the two pandas, naming them and having their handlers speak to the pandas in Minnan (also known as Taiwanese).

Taiwan's government, however, will not decide whether to accept the pandas until March. 23.

Lee Tao-sheng (李桃生), deputy director-general of Taiwan's Forestry Bureau, which is charged with reviewing the importation of the animals, said that the applications filed by Taipei Zoo and Leofoo Village to house the pandas are still under discussion.

Wu yesterday urged the Chinese government not to downgrade Taiwan's status by trying to force this country to accept the pandas without the government's consent.

"As pandas are rare animals, whether Taiwan is able to take them in has to conform to the rules of the Washington Accord and the government's animal protection regulations," Wu said.

"Beijing should not avoid talking with the government on the importation," he said.

"China always says one thing and does another," Wu said, in response to comments made in a Lunar New Year's address by Wang Zaixi (王在希), vice-minister of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, who said that cross-strait relations should be directed toward peace and stability.

"Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) once said that he will do anything to benefit the Taiwanese people, but evidently he never delivered his promise," Wu said.

Wu said the entry of Taiwan into the World Health Organization is one of the things that would be beneficial to the Taiwanese people, yet China has repeatedly barred Taiwan from joining the group.

"If China keeps saying one thing and doing another, it would only hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese people and make Taiwan move further away from China," he said.
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