Taiwan's incoming government will not use the phrase "special state-to-state relations" in its official statements, the soon-to-be top official on cross-strait affairs said yesterday.
Tsai Ying-wen (
The phrase was first coined by President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in July last year to describe the political situation across the Taiwan Strait.
According to Tsai, the term had mistakenly been equated with Taiwan independence, even though Lee never intended to involve the "one China" or "independence versus unification" issues.
Tsai is known to have been a key figure in formulating the state-to-state model, which was seen by China as a move toward independence.
Tsai said, however, that even though the new government will forgo use of the term as a gesture of goodwill toward China, no one can deny the political reality across the strait.
When asked whether the new government will maintain Taiwan's current official stance of eventual unification, Tsai said the new government will keep its choices open, as any decision it makes must be backed by a national consensus.
Tsai said that she would not do away with the Guidelines for National Unification or the National Unification Council for now, but added that she would not rule out making room for changes in the future.
Tsai was responding to earlier criticism from KMT lawmakers following a statement from DPP Chairman Lin I-hsiung (
Citing the DPP's party charter, which calls Taiwan an independent sovereignty, Lin said he would ask President-elect Chen Shui-bian (
A statement from Chen, saying the government cannot go against the voice of the populace, came out at about the same time.
KMT legislators were quick to interpret the statements as signs of a rift between the DPP chief and the newly-elected president. Chen had vowed to stop participating in DPP activities if elected, in order to become a "president of the people."
Chu Fong-chih (
In response, Tsai explained that Lin's statement was meant to stress the need for a mechanism to build national consensus before formulating any concrete policy. In this context, there can be no policy conflicts between the DPP and the new government, Tsai said.
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