Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of failing to open its negotiations with China to public scrutiny.
“There have been many areas in which the KMT government hasn’t been transparent when dealing with cross-strait issues,” Tsai said during a campaign stop in Taipei City.
“The part we are most concerned about is that we don’t know what messages or words are being exchanged between [the KMT] and China,” she said.
Tsai’s remarks on the KMT’s unofficial cross-strait exchanges reflected growing dissatisfaction by the opposition party, which said the channels of communication should instead be conducted on a government-to-government basis.
Speaking earlier, DPP spokesperson Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said the talks served as a front for secret political exchanges, adding that they were part of an effort that could lead to cross-strait unification.
He said that while the opposition party wasn’t against holding dialogue with China, they should be conducted under “a framework that is accountable to the public.”
Their comments came in the wake of a KMT-Chinese Communist Party (CPP) forum held in Guangzhou, China, on Friday and Saturday. Hundreds of delegates attended the event, including a number of senior KMT officials.
The forum was initiated by former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) during a ground-breaking visit to China in 2005. Since then, it has been widely seen as a major communications platform between the two parties.
Former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), who led the KMT delegation at the forum, will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) today to discuss the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which was signed on June 29 in Chongqing, China.
The two are expected to discuss the timetable for implementation of the ECFA.
Wu is also expected to pass to Hu a 16-character message from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Translated into English, the message reads: “Face the realities, build mutual trust, seek consensus despite differences and create win-win results.”
Ma yesterday confirmed that he had asked Wu to communicate that message to the Chinese leader.
Given that there are a lot of things to do in the wake of the ECFA signing, Ma said he hoped the two sides would forge ahead “shoulder-to-shoulder” based on those.
During a gathering with representatives from Tainan’s business and agricultural sectors, Ma said the ECFA — under which zero tariffs, deregulation and greater market access were expected to give Taiwanese businesses an edge in China — could prevent Taiwan from being “further marginalized” economically in the Asia-Pacific region, help globalize Taiwan’s trade and economy and enhance the institutionalization of cross-strait business and trade.
He said that after the ECFA takes effect on Jan. 1 next year, 60,000 jobs are expected to be created in Taiwan. In Tainan alone, about 1,400 companies of the 8,000 firms in operation there are expected to benefit from the trade pact. The beneficiaries would include manufacturers of TFT-LCD flat panels, textiles and auto parts and components, as well as farmers and aquaculture operators, he said.
Meanwhile, Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said Ma had urged the DPP to return to the provisional legislative session to review the ECFA and fulfill its duty to oversee the government.
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