China relations more unclear, say scholars

On the first anniversary of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration, the Chinese-language Liberty Times and the Taipei Society (澄社) conferred about what Taiwan can do to resolve the cross-strait stand-off in the present political environment.

Relations between the two sides are now more unclear than they used to be, said Huang Chao-yuan (黃昭元), a member of the Taipei Society and an associate professor of law at National Taiwan University.

"With changes in the two sides' political environments, cross-strait relations are more ambiguous than they were," Huang said.

On the other hand, even though there has been no official dialogue between the two sides, private sector exchanges between them are increasing, while the Chinese government is trying to turn Taiwan into a local government, Huang said.

"Chen actually has a softer policy toward China compared to Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). Chen's policy allows Chinese tourist visits and investment in Taiwan, something the previous government did not. But if we look at the exchanges between China's government, Taiwan's civic organizations, and Taiwan's local governments, China's government has ignored the existence of Taiwan's central government. They have been practicing the one country-two systems' policy toward Taiwan," Huang said.

However, when it came to official dialogue, Huang was opposed to a rush to the negotiation table.

"Somehow, I don't think negotiation is the best way, especially when the timing is not right. The negotiations between Israel and Palestine are the best example. Forced negotiations can result in an official break-up, which is worse than no negotiations," he said.

Participants emphasized domestic consensus making.

"People always say that diplomacy is an extension of domestic affairs. Cross-strait relations are an extension of Taiwan's domestic affairs. Different opinions in Taiwan make cross-strait relations look more complicated than they really are," he said.

"Different parties in Taiwan should make a consensus, instead of being obsessed with political considerations all the time. Political considerations can cause Taiwan to miss the opportunity for economic integration," said Wang Yeh-lih (王業立), chairman of the political science department at Tunghai University. The different political parties should build a consensus toward China, said Lin Cheng-yi (林正義), director of the Institute of European and American Studies at Acade-mic Sinica.

Those attending also recommended that Taiwan participate more aggressively in international organizations, which will also be useful as bargaining chips in any possible negotiation with China on unification.

"We should look at cross-strait relations from different perspectives. Taiwan should not ignore cross-strait communication through international organizations. I am looking forward to seeing the two sides communicating more in the WTO," Huang said.

"Taiwan has participated in APEC for 10 years but cross-strait communication has not got better, even though both sides are in the same organization.

"I am not sure whether the two sides would have better communication in the WTO, but I agree with Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) idea of attending the Shanghai APEC meeting because it's more aggressive," said another member of the Taipei Society.

"Without China changing its attitude, cross-strait communication will not make any progress in any international organization. Jiang Zemin (江澤民) may be awarded the Nobel peace prize if he allows Chen to attend the APEC meeting," said Hsu Sung-ken (許松根), a professor at Tamkang University.