Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said that the government would study the conclusions of the meeting between former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and look for any possible benefits for Taiwan.
While President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) were critical of the Lien-Hu meeting, Su's attitude yesterday was seen as a possible solution to the legislative stalemate between the pan-green and the pan-blue camps.
"The premier emphasized that Lien and Hu's meeting was non-official, so whatever conclusions it came to would not be legally binding on the government. But we will view the `conclusions' as suggestions," said Government Information Office Minister and Cabinet Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦).
`Seriously consider'
"The government will seriously consider any suggestions that we view as being good for the people," he said.
The spokesman made the remarks during the weekly post-Cabinet meeting press conference yesterday morning.
Talking about whether the government would lift more restrictions on doing business with China and allow more Chinese tourists, Cheng quoted Su as saying that the main concern for the government was Taiwan's capacity to handle so many Chinese tourists.
"A hotel manager needs to consider whether all his rooms are booked and whether his employees would be able to maintain a good level of service," said Cheng.
Su also requested that all government officials mark "ROC (Taiwan)" on all products and documents which are given to foreign allies as aid in the future.
Rrecognize Taiwan
"We want to let the world know and recognize the kindness of Taiwanese people and their willingness to devote themselves to international society. We want our voices to be heard. We do not want our efforts to be buried," Cheng said.
He said that the premier made the request during yesterday's Cabinet meeting, after he heard a briefing from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about Taiwan's plans to help Guatemala preserve and protect their historical relics. Cheng quoted Su as saying that this request has nothing to do with promoting the idea of Taiwanese independence.
"It is only a friendly reminder to our friends that the `Republic of China is Taiwan, and not China,'" he said.
Cheng said that Su was very impressed by Taiwan's diplomats and other technicians and farmers who are currently far away from home dedicating themselves to Taiwan's cause and helping Taiwan's foreign allies. But he said he was very sad when foreigners confused China with Taiwan and thanked China for the help, when the aid had actually come from Taiwan.
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