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Dismantle missiles and give Taiwan international space, Wang tells China

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) urged Beijing yesterday to respond positively to Taiwan’s moves to participate in the international community and to dismantle its more than 1,000 ballistic missiles targeting Taiwan.

“I believe that as long as we continue to extend goodwill to each other, cross-strait relations will remain promising,” he said after a closed-door meeting with Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) at the Grand Hotel.

Chen said that the issue was related to military confidence-building and that it was more important to address economic issues for the moment.

“Political matters must proceed step by step, one step at a time,” Wang quoted Chen as saying during their breakfast meeting.

When asked how Chen addressed him, Wang said he had emphasized that he was the head of the legislature, representing the 23 million people of Taiwan.

Chen called him “elder brother Jin-pyng” because he is eight months Chen’s senior, Wang said.

Although they did not talk about President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) scheduled meeting with Chen, Wang said it would be best if Chen addressed Ma as president.

Wang said he suggested Chen talk with representatives of different political parties to improve his understanding of Taiwan.

Wang told Chen he had not ruled out visiting China at “an appropriate time” and asked him to extend an invitation to Wu Bangguo (吳邦國), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, to visit Taiwan.

Asked by the Taipei Times what “an appropriate time” would be, Wang said: “When the two sides need him.”

“If my visit would help solve problems, promote sound policies and benefit cross-strait development, I will go when I am needed,” he said.

Wang said he was glad to see negotiators meet in Taipei on the basis of the “1992 consensus.”

The agreements signed on Tuesday were a historic achievement, he said.

Wang said he hoped the agreements would be implemented on schedule.

Asked whether the legislature would complete its review of the agreements in good time, Wang said he hoped the legislature would deal with the four pacts as soon as possible to benefit economic cooperation and exchanges.

Wang dismissed criticism that the legislature was just a “rubber stamp,” saying its job was to oversee the government.

He stressed, however, that legislation was needed to empower the legislature to supervise cross-strait negotiations.

Regarding the June agreement to increase the quota for Chinese visiting Taiwan, Wang said that since nearly 5 million Taiwanese visit China each year, it would make sense to expect 10,000 Chinese tourists a day.

While Chen would not have a chance to visit central and southern Taiwan on his five-day visit, Wang said he hoped that Chen would be able to do so the next time around.
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