Cross-strait milestone celebration cancelled

Mainland Affairs Council Chair-woman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday urged both sides of the Taiwan Strait to put aside their differences and to pursue mutual understanding so that cross-strait ties can advance.

Tsai made the remarks in a written document to mark the 10th anniversary of the historic meeting between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) and his Chinese counterpart Wang Daohan (汪道涵) of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), which was held April 27 to 29, 1993 in Singapore.

The SEF and ARATS are intermediary agencies authorized by both governments to conduct bilateral cooperative exchange activities in the absence of formal ties between the two sides.

An activity which was originally organized by the SEF to mark the event was canceled recently as a result of recent travel delays and the worry over severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Tsai noted that the Koo-Wang meeting meant that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait did not hold a negative attitude toward each other, which Tsai described as the foundation of regular contact between the two sides.

Noting that both sides encounter structural problems every time they try to resolve their disputes, Tsai urged the two sides to understand the other's position and put aside disputes, which she said is the cornerstone for a gradual solution of problems.

"The marking of the 10th anniversary of the Koo-Wang meeting means that both Taiwan's government and the public treasure the institutional communication channels between the two sides, and we hope Chinese authorities can understand that we have never changed our consistent position," Tsai said.

Relations between China and Taiwan encountered an impasse after the special state-to-state relationship presented by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in 1999 to describe the cross-strait ties and since then Beijing has stopped all official dialogue with Taipei.

Facing the possibility of the potentially fatal atypical pneumonia that has seriously affected both China and Taiwan, Tsai said the nation has been thinking that the early establishment of an epidemic reporting system and the cooperation in fighting against the disease is a necessary step for both sides.

She said she would like to see a positive response from Chinese authorities in this area, and that the two sides should adopt active measures by preventing unnecessary political interference.

Meanwhile, SEF Secretary-General Shi Hwei-yow (許惠佑) said he hopes the cancellation of the activity to mark the 10th anniversary of the Koo-Wang meeting because of the fear of SARS will not cause any misunderstandings.