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MAC vice chairman sees Jiang's trip to the US positively

Ahead of Chinese President Jiang Zemin's (江澤民) trip to the US next month, a senior Taiwanese cross-strait official said yesterday that it was good for China and the US to develop a stable relationship.

"We are glad to see the US and the People's Republic of China developing stable relations, and we always support the idea of using negotiations to resolve cross-strait problems ? because this is in line with trilateral mutual interests," said Chen Ming-tong (陳明通), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).

At a routine new briefing, Chen said that Taiwan and the US have smooth communication channels and share a goal of creating a stable, prosperous and peaceful situation in the Asia-Pacific region.

"We hope that the US can play an active role as a balancer in terms of cross-strait relations," he said.

He said that Taiwan would continue to pay attention to US-China relations and would use multiple communication channels with the US to respond to possible changes.

Chen dismissed speculation that China was hoping to use cooperation on the fight against terror as means to foment better relations with the US at Taiwan's expense, saying that Taiwan also supported US-led anti-terrorism efforts and that they had little to do with cross-strait relations.

Chen also used yesterday's briefing to call on China to allow residents of Fujian Province to travel to Taiwan's islands of Kinmen and Matsu.

Quoting Fujian officials, a local Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday that Beijing was expected to allow such visits by the end of the year.

In response, Chen said the China's move "should have been made earlier."

"Since Taiwan opened the `small three links' one year and nine months ago, not one traveler from China has visited Kinmen and Matsu," Chen said.

"We hope China can act on this policy as soon as possible.

Kinmen and Matsu were battlefields in the past, Chen said, so it is meaningful to turn those two islands into "a door of peace."

The vice chairman also said that the government would continue to set up facilities to attract more visitors from China since tourism is a major part in the government's blueprint to help boost the economy.
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