Soft stances on China under fire

Attempts by the three leading presidential candidates to fashion China-friendly cross-strait platforms have been condemned by academics as ill thought out.

"They are being naive and stupid if they expect China to feel happy with these cross-strait platforms," said Shih Chih-yu (石之瑜), professor of international relations at National Taiwan University.

"What Beijing is concerned about is not their talk of brotherhood, but what they do to back this up," Shih said.

Following in the steps of his major rivals in the March 18 vote -- independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) and DPP candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) -- vice president and KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰) announced his cross-strait platform on Thursday, hinting at the possibility that cross-strait relations could be advanced to the the so-called "medium term" as laid out in the Guidelines for National Unification.

Both Chen and Soong have already expressed their own willingness to construct peaceful and cooperative relations with China, when they addressed the cross-strait issues.

All three candidates have suggested the speedy opening of direct links with China and the lifting or restrictions on investment in that country.

Beijing might not, however, appreciate their good will, but rather will look to their past track records on cross-strait issues.

"They can see what's in the candidates' minds, whether it's independence or reunification," Shih said.

The Guidelines for National Unification, the government's official cross-strait policy published in 1991, states that to reach the eventual goal of reunification, three phases of cross-strait relations are needed, each with specific conditions.

The development of relations, however, appear to have been shelved for the time being amid tensions between Taiwan and China. Cross-strait relations have further deteriorated ever since President Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) announcement in July that relations with China are "special state-to-state" in nature.

Lin Wen-cheng (林文成), a political scientist at National Sun Yat-sen University, pointed out the common ground of the three candidates on their China policies at a discussion group with other political scholars from the Chinese Institute of Political Science (中國政治學會).

"All of them have made adjustments on the basis of Lee's `special state-to-state' idea. And all say they are willing to improve relations with China so that cross-strait relations could enter a phase in which political dialogue can be undertaken," Lin said.

"We foresee a honeymoon with Beijing after the March election, whoever might be elected. But how long this honeymoon will last very much depends on Beijing's reaction [to the outcome]," Lin pointed out.

Cross-strait issues have been an influential factor in Taiwan's previous elections but this time are seen as less influential than before.

"Anyone who tries to highlight the cross-strait issue will be out of the game in the end," said Shao Tsung-hai (邵宗海), an academic who is now also a campaign advisor to Soong.

Shao said the cross-strait issue in Taiwan is always tangled up in the murky waters of ethnicity and hostility between mainlanders and Taiwanese.

"At the critical time, every vote counts. And as a result, none of the candidates would dare to offend any group of voters by raising cross-strait issues," Shao said.