Echoing President Chen Shui-bian's comment that direct links across the Strait are inevitable, the opposition KMT has drafted a bill that seeks to remove legal obstacles to direct transport between the two sides.
The legislation drew mixed reviews from other parties yesterday, with the opposition PFP voicing support and the ruling camp doubting its feasibility, given Beijing's refusal to resume bilateral talks.
"It is in Taiwan's interest to lift the ban on direct transportation across the Taiwan Strait," said KMT lawmaker and former foreign minister John Chang (章孝嚴), who has made implementing the policy his top priority.
"Cross-strait commerce accounts for the bulk of Taiwan's foreign trade. Regulated properly, direct cross-strait transport will not harm the nation's security," he added.
To that end, Chang and fellow colleagues have proposed revising rules governing cross-strait exchanges to allow local and Chinese transport vehicles to travel between Taiwan and China. The KMT heavyweight cited an internal poll as saying that 60 percent of Taiwan's people agree with President Chen's statement last week that Taiwan must ultimately engage in direct links -- for trade, transport and mail -- with China.
The draft legislation, if adopted by the legislature, would obligate the government to publish the details of how it plans to carry out the policy within the following six months.
Fellow lawmaker Apollo Chen (陳學聖) said it is time the Statute Governing the Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area be revised to better reflect realities across the Strait.
Earlier, the former ruling party had suggested a sweeping reform of the statute but decided later to narrow its focus to direct transport links after failing to put the previous bill on the legislative calendar.
The latest version also seeks to allow private citizens and organizations to negotiate with their Chinese counterparts over issues that are not connected with politics.
KMT legislative leader Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永) said his party would push for the passage of the legislation before the end of the legislative session in June.
PFP legislator Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) said his caucus has no objection to the KMT proposal, but predicted the Cabinet would move to block it on political as well as technical grounds.
"The PFP has always favored direct links across the Strait, though it differs on when the policy should go into effect," Chou said.
Together, the two opposition parties hold 112 seats in the 225-member lawmaking body.
But Wang Tuoh (王拓), legislative whip of the ruling DPP, said it made no difference whether the legislature would give its go-ahead to the planned revisions, as they have no chance of being put into effect without Beijing's approval.
"It takes two to tango," Wang said. "By painting direct links as being inevitable, President Chen intended to jumpstart the cross-strait dialogue."
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