President Chen Shui-bian's (
Taiwan's top negotiator, Koo Chen-fu (
"He [Chen] has promised to handle the idea of `one China' properly and I believe he will announce the details of how he will do this in the near future," said Koo.
PHOTO: AFP
Koo said both sides of the Taiwan Strait should give the new president time, and the most important thing is to reopen the door of cross-strait dialogue.
"If necessary I would like to visit China again, or even invite Wang Daohan (汪道涵) to visit Taiwan," Koo said. Wang is Koo's counterpart in China and is the head of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.
Making another appeal to Beijing's leaders, Koo said that "this is not the time for leaders to shout rhetoric at one other, because that only leads to more mistakes."
Former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (
"For Taiwanese people, Chen's speech maintains our dignity but also creates new hope," Shih said. "For China, I think Beijing's leaders could feel Chen's goodwill. They [Beijing] have to realize that the time of war and military threats has passed," said Shih.
Jeffrey Koo (
The president has left "plenty of flexibility to further cross-strait relations in the future," Koo said.
Meanwhile, speaking at a press conference yesterday, the vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, Lin Chong-pin (
"We do not expect Chinese Communist officials to immediately understand the deeper meaning of what Chen has said in his address," Lin said.
As for the issue of direct links, which Chen did not mention in his speech, Lin said: "The inauguration speech only points out the guidelines and general direction of cross-strait relations. All China needs to do is express its goodwill and direct links will definitely be part of the new government's policy."
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