WTO to provide new channel for cross-strait talks

As China continues to prepare for WTO accession, Cabinet Secretary General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) said yesterday that the WTO framework may provide another mechanism for conducting cross-strait negotiations following Taiwan's entry into the organization.

Chiou also brushed aside concerns that Taiwan may at times have to sacrifice its sovereignty to facilitate cross-strait talks under the framework, saying "the organization, aiming to maximize economic benefits for member countries, would not necessarily exert pressure on any particular country for political purposes."

Chiou, taking afternoon tea with reporters, made the comments to counter an oft-repeated Chinese line that if Taiwan plays the sovereignty card in the WTO, it is unlikely to win support from other countries, which may, instead, pressure Taiwan into accepting China's "one China" principle.

Chiou said that the WTO framework would only be one of three established forums for cross-strait dialogue, which also include the semi-official link between Taipei's Straits Exchange Foundation (海基會) and Beijing's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (海協會).

China, however, has previously rejected the idea that the WTO would provide a new forum for Taiwan and China to discuss cross-strait issues such as the opening of the three direct links (三通), according to a mid-June report in a Beijing mouthpiece, Hong Kong's Wen Hui Daily (香港文匯報).

"Cross-strait problems such as the three links are an issue between the two sides ... and should only be discussed through already established channels," the report quoted an unnamed Chinese official as saying.

DPP secretary-general Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) has said that the ruling DPP's view is that conducting cross-strait negotiations under the WTO framework will best benefit Taiwan over China by internationalizing cross-strait issues.

But such a strategy is forbidden in China's eyes. The anonymous Beijing official stressed that China was "opposed to internationalizing the cross-strait issue and dragging it into international mechanisms for discussion," said the report.

Chiou, however, said that the WTO had established mechanisms for its member countries to engage in what he said was "the customary practice" of conducting bilateral and multilateral talks, which both sides of the Strait would "just have to abide by."

He also commented yesterday on the prospective alliance between former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and its possible impact on cross-strait relations.

"China, viewing the Lee-Chen lobby as a pro-independence force, will certainly cast greater doubts on Chen's cross-strait stance, which may force Chen to prolong his [indirect] communication with China to enhance mutual trust," Chiou said.