Next MAC head urges China to trust the DPP

Incoming Mainland Affairs Council chairperson Tsai Ying-wen (蔡英文) urged China yesterday to have patience and confidence in Taiwan's new government's resolve to work toward solving the "one China" question.

"It is a problem we must face. We can face the problem together [with Beijing] and not confront each other over it," Tsai told a group of KMT lawmakers.

"It takes two to tango. We need cooperation, trust and patience from China," Tsai said.

But Vice Chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Strait (ARATS) Tang Shubei (唐樹備), speaking in Xiamen yesterday, reiterated China's long-standing warning that Taiwan's refusal to accept "one China" as a principle, and instead insist on treating it as a topic for discussion would, create "extremely grave new problems" for cross-strait relations.

Tsai said cross-strait relations remain "at a very difficult stage right now," and the two sides must find a way to create "a certain degree of mutual trust" to break through the current stalemate.

She urged "patience and confidence" on China's part in reorienting itself with Taiwan's new government, and said she hopes to find a way to reconcile "one China" with President Lee's "special state-to-state" model, which the new government has forgone as a gesture of goodwill to China.

Tsai said despite the goodwill behind the idea of "special state-to-state relations," the term has been misinterpreted by China as a move toward independence, but declined to further elaborate.

"The formulation of `state-to-state' is a very complex process, now is not the right time to address the issue," she said.

On the question of how Tsai is going to balance the DPP's pro-independence stance as stipulated in the party platform with other possible reunification policies, she emphasized that cross-strait policy must be based on a public consensus.

"Cross-strait policy is not based on ideology but based on risk analysis and a public consensus," Tsai said.

"There is not much difference in the parties' cross-strait policy, and the DPP has not ruled out amending its party platform," she said.

Tsai denied media reports that the new government has dispatched a secret envoy to Beijing to deliver a draft of the speech.

Ming Pao (明報), a Hong Kong newspaper reported yesterday that Chen has sent drafts of his inauguration speech to the US, Japan and China.

The report named Shen Chun-san (沈君山), the former president of National Tsinghua University, and a friend of Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) as Chen's secret envoy to Beijing. It also said, although Beijing is not satisfied with the inauguration address, Chinese authorities thought it was "acceptable."

Tsai dismissed the report.