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Officials doubt China's `seven guarantees'

Beijing's "one country, two systems" model -- though modified by a so-called "seven guarantees" to make it more palatable to Taiwan -- is unworkable and unacceptable, the Presidential Office said yesterday.

The Presidential Office issued the statement yesterday in response to comments by Chinese Premier Qian Qichen (錢其琛).

On Thursday, Qian said that after China takes control of Taiwan, it would continue to use its own currency; keep its troops; be an independent region for customs and tariffs; continue to keep its government framework; the mainland will not take even one cent from Taiwan and will not use Taiwanese capital; Taiwan people and businessmen will hold on to their property and Taiwan's government officials will remain independent from the mainland's and no mainland officials will be dispatched to Taiwan.

"Regarding the future of Taiwan, the will of its people and the government they elect must be respected," said Lin Chong-pin (林中斌), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council. "An independent sovereign, Taiwan should not be compared to Hong Kong or Macao."

The Presidential Office said Beijing has apparently misread the will of the people in Taiwan as evidenced in its repeated proposal to end the cross-strait entanglement under the "one country, two systems" framework.

"Less than 15 percent of Taiwan's people favor the solution under which Hong Kong and Macao returned to Chinese rule," the Presidential Office said, attempting to negate a survey conducted by a pro-unification newspaper that put the figure at 30 percent.

"Unimaginable," President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said of Beijing's offer, adding that China's proposal purposely denied the existence of the country.

Earlier in the day, the Mainland Affairs Council also rejected any approach to the sovereignty feud that fails to consult the people beforehand.

In a meeting with visitors from the the pro-unification New Party, Qian said that Taiwan may continue to keep its present political and economic systems when united with the "motherland."

"Already, Beijing has broken the pledge not to meddle with Hong Kong's internal affairs for 50 years," Lin noted, deploring recent Hong Kong legislation that allows Chinese leaders to change its administrator any time they see fit.

"Anti-democratic, such a practice on the part of the special administrative district is self-deprecating and shows the `one country, two systems' policy can't hold," the senior China policy advisor said.

Major political parties, although differing on how to deal with China, unanimously uphold the principle of self-determination.

The ruling DPP, whose party platform calls for a plebiscite to settle the cross-strait dilemma, questioned the credibility of the Chinese communists.

"How can one trust a regime with a history of going back on its words?" DPP Secretary-general Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) said, commenting on Qian's terms that would also allow Taiwan to maintain its own defense.

Wu noted that Beijing in 1949 offered Tibet a similar promise but launched a military invasion only seven years later.

Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭), director of the KMT's mainland affairs division, said that Qian's latest remarks contain nothing new.

"Over the years, Beijing has said Taiwan may retain its political institutions in a bid to drum up support [here] for unification," Chang said, expressing doubt that the proposed "liberality" from Beijing would include the election of its own president.

He suspected that Qian's talk was part of China's propaganda to divide the country, as the state-run media in Beijing made no mention of the guarantees.

The China Daily, for instance, ran a story welcoming the visit of the New Party delegation while again faulting the DPP government for stalling cross-strait dialogue by refusing to recognize the "one China" principle.
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