In response to calls by former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for the rebalancing of cross-strait interactions, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said in a press release it welcomed closer interactions between the DPP and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“The DPP being willing to put aside its ideology, face up to reality and begin engaging with China is something the people of Taiwan would want to see, and the KMT welcomes such a development,” KMT spokesman Yin Wei (殷瑋) said in the statement.
Hsieh made the call in his capacity as chairman of the Taiwan Reform Foundation at a two-day forum on cross-strait between in Hong Kong, which was also attended by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Deputy Director Sun Yafu (孫亞夫).
Citing Hsieh’s praise for cross-strait interaction in the past few years, which he said had yielded the most significant achievement — cross-strait peace — Yin said the improvement in cross-strait ties was the reason why Taiwanese had placed more trust in the KMT in terms of handling cross-strait issues.
Yin was also quoted as dismissing Hsieh’s remark that cross-strait interactions had been narrowed down to interactions between the KMT and the CCP, saying that the DPP could not blame the KMT for its own “conservative” and “rigid” cross-strait policy.
However, some KMT members expressed worries over warmer ties between the DPP and the CCP.
One KMT member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said if DPP-CCP interactions were to reach a certain level, the KMT could lose its dominant position in cross-strait engagement, which would bode ill for the party’s future.
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