China's change won't affect cross-strait ties

While agreeing that the outcome of next year's presidential election would play a key role in the development of cross-strait relations, professor of political science at the National Taiwan University Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光), however, said that cross-strait relations would not improve if Chen won again.

"The DPP's pro-independence stance, plus former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) call to change the nation's name, means that China would become more agitated and cross-strait relations would not improve," Ger said.

Addressing an annual meeting of the World Taiwanese Congress held in Taipei, Lee on Saturday called on Taiwanese to forge a new Constitution and change the nation's name from Republic of China to Taiwan.

Ger said that cross-strait ties would improve if the pan-blue camp won next year, "because the pan-blue camp would go back to the `one China, with each side having its own interpretation' (九二共識: 一個中國各自表述) consensus reached in 1992 to resume the long-stalled cross-strait dialogue."

From China's point of view, they can accept the 1992 consensus because it is ambiguous in terms of Taiwan's self-identification, Ger said.

China thus insists negotiators from the two sides should use the consensus to resume dialogue. The DPP, however, does not acknowledge the "1992 consensus."