PFP impatient for direct transport

The PFP legislative caucus yesterday voiced its discontent at the government's hesitation to make good on a promise to start removing legal obstacles to direct transport links with China.

Lawmakers from the opposition party threatened to push for passage of their own bill when the legislature convenes this fall if the Cabinet refuses to take action.

"The Cabinet has said it would turn over a draft bill allowing direct transportation across the Strait before September," PFP legislative leader Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧) said. "But thus far, it has not made any effort to achieve the goal. I suspect the Cabinet is seeking to backtrack on its policy pledge."

On May 31, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) agreed it would submit a sweeping proposal to revise the Statute Governing the Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例).

The legislature's Home and Nations Committee was on the brink of passing a bill that obligates the government to unilaterally permit Taiwanese and Chinese boats and aircraft to travel across the Taiwan Strait.

Shen expressed apprehension that the recent diplomatic setback would cause the government to take a U-turn in dealing with China, which lured away a diplomatic ally, Nauru, from Taiwan on Sunday.

She noted that several government agencies have assumed a more hostile posture toward Beijing following President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) speech that same day that Taiwan could go its own way.

"The Ministry of Transportation and Communications, for example, has called on China to list Taiwan as a `country' Chinese tourists are allowed to visit," the PFP lawmaker said, equating the request to declaration of statehood. Shen warned against any isolationist tactics, saying that direct transport is key to Taiwan's economic development.

PFP Legislator Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國) linked the Cabinet inaction to the formation of a ruling majority bloc in the legislature.

"The government, which earlier portrayed direct links as inevitable, will probably think it alright to back down on that position now that chances for a majority alliance in the legislature look more promising," Feng told reporters. "That explains why the MAC remains inactive today."

Back in May, MAC Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the council would make public draft legislation by June 20 for lawmakers and the public to pass judgment before the Cabinet finalizes the draft bill. Lawmakers from the four caucuses agreed then to wrap up a review of the proposal by the end of November.

Feng, who chaired the Interior Committee last session, said that if the Cabinet insists on eating its own words, the opposition parties will have no choice but to push their own version of the legislation.

The MAC has said that the passage of such legislation is pointless, because direct links can never materialize unless China also gives its go-ahead. Beijing has refused to sit at the negotiating table in an attempt to frustrate the Chen administration.

The KMT has said that the legislation should nevertheless be completed so legal constraints would not be an issue when China does agree to resume a dialogue.