China lays down rules for visits

A Chinese official has stipulated five principles intended to govern visits to China by Taiwanese officials, according to Hong Kong's Wen Wei Pao newspaper yesterday. These would include the designation of Taiwan officials as "local" and the prerequisite that they recognize "one China."

Kaohsiung City Government, which said it doubted the truth of the report, nevertheless insisted that Mayor Frank Hsieh would abandon his plan to visit Xiamen if it were true.

"Mayor Hsieh absolutely will not accept the `one China' principle," said Kaohsiung City Government spokeswoman Kuan Pi-ling(管碧玲), adding that, "if China insisted on our acceptance of such principles, Hsieh would not visit China even if the Cabinet accepted them."

The Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is scheduled to make a final decision on the proposed landmark trip today -- four days after Hsieh's plan was first made public.

The Chinese official was quoted as saying that Xiamen was researching specific means of facilitating Hsieh's trip. The remark differed from previous statements, which denied that Xiamen had even sent out an invitation.

The new statement, however, specified five preconditions to apply to Hsieh's trip and any others made by Taiwanese officials. These five included the requirement that Taiwan officials recognize the "one China" principle and that any visits they make to China be carried out in the capacity of "local officials" and not in a capacity as representatives of a "state."

The remaining stipulations were that Chinese and Taiwanese cities are not entitled to enter into international "sister" relationships; any visits of Taiwan officials would be expected to promote cross-strait economic and cultural exchanges and that they would be confined exclusively to the original designated destination.

DPP secretary-general designate Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) yesterday said that it had always been expected that China would throw obstacles in the path of a visit. He said, "The trip was never going to be straightforward," and advised Hsieh to "leave himself a way out" in the event of his planned visit ultimately not being permitted.

The Presidential Office yesterday gave its view of the matter, saying that it welcomed cross-strait interaction on equal terms.

"We welcome these kinds of exchanges as long as they accord with current rules and take the dignity of the state into account," said secretary-general of the Presidential Office Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), adding that a decision was in the hands of the Cabinet and the office would respect its judgement.

Hsieh met with MAC Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Wednesday before forwarding his proposal to the MAC.

Premier Tang Fei (唐飛) yesterday said in the legislature that the Mayor's proposal was not detailed enough to enable a judgement to be made and that the Cabinet would await a further proposal from him, with details of specific intended actions and aims, before deciding whether it conformed with the exclusively cultural framework previously agreed.

Kaohsiung City Government sent the further plans yesterday afternoon, according to spokeswoman Kuan.

Mayor Hsieh insisted that he would remove from his plans anything which did not fall within the Cabinet's requirements and the definition of "city to city exchanges." He said that the city government would not break the rules if the MAC did not approve the plan.