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Hsieh to pursue peace, but not with Ma

The presidential candidates of the two main parties yesterday thanked former United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) chairman Robert Tsao (曹興誠) for his proposal that they work together for a cross-strait peace agreement between Taiwan and China.

Tsao ran an advertisement in four major Chinese-language newspapers yesterday, including the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) and the United Daily News, urging Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rival, Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), to cooperate and push for cross-strait "peaceful coexistence legislation" to "completely solve the cross-strait problem and end the political wrangling within the nation."

Calling himself "a citizen concerned about the nation," Tsao said the cross-strait conflict could be resolved if the two sides of the Taiwan Strait use referendums as a peaceful means to solve the cross-strait gridlock.

Hsieh said that he appreciated Tsao's proposal and concern for the political situation.

"Cross-strait peace is a common goal shared by all parties," he said. "I myself will strive to reach the goal if I am elected."

Asked whether he would be willing to work together with Ma to put Tsao's proposal into practice, Hsieh said he would make every effort to push for peace, but not with Ma.

"The suggestion that we jointly push the initiative sounds strange," he said. "Since there is only one president, it makes more sense that the president and the government lead the country to advance that goal."

He said political parties can cooperate like businesses and that they should not always try to annihilate one another, but sometimes work together to create a win-win situation.

"The media seem to be more interested in seeing Ma and I brawl like professional wrestlers," he said. "Actually we can work together and find common ground."

Meanwhile, Ma reiterated that he would pursue peace talks with China under the premise that China first remove its missiles targeting Taiwan, if he wins the presidential election.

"The most important thing at the moment is to establish the groundwork for [cross-strait] peace because whether the nation should be united [with China] or not is a long-term matter," Ma said.

"What we need to do at the moment is put an end to the hostility the two sides show toward each other. If we do not put an end to the hostility, leaders of both sides will have some blind spots and leave some urgent problems aside. This is a real pity," he said.

Ma said he had previously proposed the signing of a peace agreement with China and was grateful for Tsao's suggestion, but he believed dealing with cross-strait affairs through negotiation would be more effective.

Ma said the KMT and China had reached an "initial consensus" when former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) visited China two years ago, adding that the KMT would continue to push the peace agreement proposal if it regains power next year.

In the ad, Tsao also called on the two presidential candidates to halt their parties' respective referendum bids on entry to the UN, saying that the proposed referendums were nothing but "slogans."

"The world may question the validity of Taiwan's other referendums if we hold the two referendums recklessly," Tsao said.

Tsao said his proposed legislation should include six focal points, including confirmation that Taiwan will not hold an independence referendum because "Taiwan, or the Republic of China [ROC], has stated its independent statehood."

The legislation should include an announcement that the nation would not exclude the possibility of uniting with China, but unification should not happen unless a unification referendum is passed, Tsao said.

However, Taiwan will only hold such a unification referendum if China requests it, he said, adding that this could enhance direct communication between Taiwanese and Chinese.

If Taiwan were to hold a unification referendum, China should first reveal the details of its proposal for a "high degree of autonomy" to Taiwanese, Tsao said, adding that if such a referendum passes, this means the majority of Taiwanese agree that unification with China is more advantageous than asserting independence.

If such a referendum fails to pass, this means Taiwanese people remain doubtful about China's definition of autonomy, Tsao said, adding that China should revise its proposal and propose another referendum bid on unification about a decade later.

Earlier yesterday morning, Hsieh spokesman Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said Hsieh respected Tsao's proposal, emphasizing that Tsao's wish for cross-strait peace and stability was consistent with Hsieh's vision.

While Tsao urged the DPP and KMT to abandon their respective referendum proposals seeking UN membership, Chao said that the will of the 3 million people who endorsed the DPP's referendum proposal should be respected.

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said that Tsao must have a misconception about referendums because the government had no right to nullify a referendum proposal initiated by the people.

He said the likelihood of the Cabinet withdrawing the referendum bid on applying for UN membership using the name "Taiwan" was remote.

"The government is not authorized by the Referendum Law (公投法) to revoke the UN referendum initiated by the people that met the signature threshold to submit their request," Chang said.

Regarding Tsao's proposal for cross-strait peace, Chang said that different people have different propositions and he hoped the public understands that cross-strait policy is not set by the Cabinet but the president.

Chang said the suggestions made by Tsao were not workable in practice, even though it is everybody's wish to achieve cross-strait stability and peace.

"The cross-strait relationship can't be unilaterally decided [by the Taiwanese side]," Chang said when approached by the medias for comment on Tsao's letter.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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