Siew backs up Koo's appeal for talks

KMT Vice Chairman Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) said yesterday that he agrees with the nation's top negotiator with China that both sides should resume their original communication channels.

Siew made the remarks during a lunch meeting with the members of the "e-generation political alliance," a faction of the KMT.

He said that there were problems arising from cross-strait personnel, trade, and cultural exchanges between the two sides, but said it would be difficult to resume talks under the framework of the WTO.

Siew said he agreed with Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), who appealed for an early resumption of the stalled cross-strait talks between the SEF and ARATS.

Speaking on the ninth anniversary of historic talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Daohan (汪道涵), chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, Koo said that no other channels were more suitable than the existing communication channels.

Beijing insists that any resumption of talks can only take place if Taiwan accepts Beijing's version of "one China" -- which is unacceptable to the government.

Siew said that Beijing has called for direct trade, postal and transport links between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. He added that when Taiwan businessmen go to China, Beijing does not ask for them to recognize "one China" first, saying asking Taiwan to first accept "one China" was unreasonable.

Regarding a suggestion from Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that Beijing exercise more flexibility and pragmatism in the interpretation of the so-called "1992 consensus," which paved the way for the historic Koo-Wang talks the following year, he said that although both sides have different interpretations of the consensus, as long as both sides can sit down and talk there would be a consensus acceptable to both sides.