In contrast to the government's efforts to downplay the 10th anniversary of the publication of the Guidelines for National Unification (國統綱領), opposition parties yesterday urged President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to declare the government's adherence to the guidelines and implement their spirit as the government's cross-strait policy.
"President Chen should convene a meeting of the National Unification Council immediately and stop neglecting the guidelines," said KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) during a gathering held by the party to celebrate the anniversary.
"Because that is the best way to create an atmosphere of goodwill to help reopen dialogue with the Beijing authorities," Lien added.
The government yesterday did not acknowledge the anniversary, but two opposition parties held activities to review the history of the guidelines and criticized the DPP government for ignoring them.
"President Chen said during his inauguration speech that he would never abolish the guidelines," Lien said at the gathering held by the KMT's think tank, the National Policy Foundation.
"The DPP government, however, has sidelined the guidelines and the council, and this has led cross-strait relations into a tense and dangerous situation," Lien said.
He also severely criticized the government's cross-strait policy for being "ambiguous and lacking in direction."
"We believe that in the 21st century, the guidelines are the basis of the main track on which cross-strait relationships can develop," Lien said.
"Only by accepting the so-called 1992 consensus -- `one China' with each side having its own interpretation," Lien added, "can the government create the opportunity to reopen dialogue [with Beijing] as soon as possible."
Echoing the KMT's appeal, the New Party also urged the president to clearly declare its adherence to the guidelines and to admit the existence of the 1992 consensus.
"The guidelines are an official government document and therefore, no matter which party is in power, their contents must be implemented as government policy," said New Party Convener Hau Lung-bin (
Urged by the two opposition parties to accept the "1992 consensus" and convene a meeting of the National Unification Council, the government's officials in charge of cross-strait relations insisted that it was necessary to adjust current cross-strait policy-making mechanisms.
"In accordance with the documents from the 1992 negotiations between the two sides, we have to clearly tell the public that there was no consensus reached over the `one China' issue," said Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tung (
"The government's cross-strait policy should show both continuity and originality. It is therefore necessary to adjust the current mechanism or even to create a new one, which can seek a new framework for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to coexist prosperously."
Meanwhile, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday said that there was no rush to amend the guidelines for the time being.
"The guidelines are an important document on cross-strait relations, and should be considered in accordance with the changed times and the latest interaction between both sides of the Strait," Chang said during interpellation by lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
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