The way President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration characterized relations between Taiwan and China as one involving two areas is not only unfathomable to foreigners, but also vulnerable to exploitation by Beijing, a retired Japanese diplomat said in Taipei yesterday.
Tadashi Ikeda, a former Japanese representative to Taiwan, attended a press conference held to launch the Chinese version of his book on challenges facing the Japan-Taiwan-China relationship.
The book is based on the original Japanese version published about a year ago and includes the latest developments from the past year.
In a chapter on the foreign and cross-strait policies of the Ma administration, Ikeda questions Ma’s contention that China agreed that both sides could have their own interpretation of “one China” under the so-called “1992 consensus.”
The Chinese government accepts only the “one China” principle and leaves no room for interpretation by Taiwan as to what “China” means, he said.
The cross-strait relationship defined by Ma as “Taiwan area” versus “Mainland area” falls within the “one China” framework, Ikeda said, adding that the way the relationship was characterized seemed like a theological debate to foreigners, which is very difficult to understand.
Regarding the idea advocated by Ma that Taiwan and China sign a peace agreement, Ikeda said the matter would have a significant bearing on peace and stability in the region.
Ikeda said the Ma administration was more palatable to China because of its pro-China policies, even though it remained unclear how far the Ma administration was able to advance the prospects of unification.
China has stuck to the course set by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in his six-point statement in 2009 — especially the sixth point, which is clearly about a peace agreement under which Taiwan would be brought to a “one country, two systems” arrangement, Ikeda said.
Ikeda said it would be out of the question for China to depart from its version of a “one China” principle, which states that Taiwan is an inalienable territory of China, and agree with Ma’s contention on a cross-strait relationship.
The way Ma defines Taiwan as an area leaves open the possibility for China to claim sovereignty over Taiwan, he said.
Ikeda said the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement was used by China as a halfway measure toward cross-strait negotiations on political and military issues as opposed to an agreement with regard to cross-strait exchanges on economic and personnel levels, as Ma expected.
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