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Ma pledges reconciliation through dialogue

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday underscored the importance of peace abroad and unity at home, saying that he would seek reconciliation with his political opponents through dialogue.

Ma’s comments, made at the opening ceremony of an annual meeting of overseas Taiwanese affairs at Taipei’s Howard Hotel yesterday morning, were a reference to the violent clashes between protesters and police during a demonstration organized by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Thursday and the call on Saturday by DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for dialogue on Taiwan’s cross-strait agenda.

The protests were in opposition to the visit of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) last week.

“Unity is very important for the survival and development of a country like Taiwan,” he said. “I hope to see political rapprochement and am willing to engage in dialogue with the opposition.”

However, Ma emphasized that violence would not be allowed, regardless of whether it took place in the legislature or on the streets.

“The key lies in whether the activities are peaceful and rational,” he said.

“Only if they are peaceful and rational can the country have a future,” Ma said.

Meanwhile, a Presidential Office official who wished to remain anonymous told the Taipei Times last night that Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) had called DPP ­Secretary-General Wang Tuoh (王拓) yesterday afternoon to extend an invitation to Tsai to discuss national affairs “for the sake of dialogue and harmony between the ruling and opposition parties.”

Earlier yesterday, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said there had been no progress in arranging a meeting with Tsai.

Wang said that they needed to know whether Tsai genuinely wanted to talk and they did not rule out taking the initiative in extending an invitation to Tsai, as long as Tsai did not set any preconditions for the meeting.

“We should know within the next few days,” he said. “If she really meant it, they could meet as early as this week.”

In response, Tsai said yesterday that talks should only be conducted after both sides had prepared thoroughly.

Tsai said the exchanges between the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government should be multi-faceted, not only between her and Ma, but also between the DPP caucus and the KMT caucus.

She said both sides should do their homework before such exchanges begin.

Tsai said she and the DPP were in no hurry to meet their counterparts and that the DPP caucus had suggested first traveling around the country to report to the public and solicit people’s views on the matter.

She said she would solicit the public’s views about national sovereignty, human rights and the nation’s current economic situation.

DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) said Tsai should not meet Ma until his government has responded to appeals made during the DPP rallies, such as improving protection of the nation’s sovereignty and combating tainted food products from China.
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