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Let's put our differences aside: premier to Beijing

Premier Yu Shyi-kun, front left, and Vice Premier Yeh Chu-lan, front right, look out the window during a train trip to Wu-chieh township in Yilan County, yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

Following the invitation to visit Taipei that Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) issued this week to Beijing's top cross-strait negotiator, Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday called on Beijing to look past the differences that exist between the two sides, resume talks and expand exchanges.

Yu said that the two sides can sit down and discuss issues of concern, including "one China," because Taiwan is willing to hold talks with no limitations on time, topic or location.

"The differences [between the two sides] don't involve Taiwan's sovereignty issue because there aren't any problems in this regard," Yu said.

"`One China' is an issue, not a condition, for cross-strait talks," he said.

"`One China' can be one of the issues on the negotiating table if [Wang Daohan (汪道涵), chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits] is willing to visit Taiwan, or if Beijing invites [Straits Exchange Foundation] Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) to visit China."

Yu made the remarks yesterday during a trip by train to Wu-chieh Township, Ilan County, where a two-day orientation program for new Cabinet officials was being held at the National Center for Traditional Arts.

Yu emphasized that cross-strait exchanges must be achieved gradually, with the two sides first extending goodwill gestures, then expanding the scope of exchanges and afterwards seeking domestic consensus.

"Only through exchanges and talks can cross-strait differences be resolved and cross-strait relations be stabilized," he said.

Yu said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has repeatedly promoted the idea of goodwill as means for pursuing peace, stability and equality across the Taiwan Strait, and that the next step is to take the initiative to accelerate cross-strait exchanges.

Also, Yu said yesterday took issue with the idea of the "1992 consensus."

"There's no such a thing as a `1992 consensus,'" Yu said.

"What the 1992 meeting produced might be better referred to as the `1992 spirit.'"

The "1992 consensus," which has long been a cornerstone of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) cross-strait policy, refers to talks held in Hong Kong between Koo and Wang and to a notion of "one China, with each side making its own interpretation."

Many DPP officials, however, argue that no consensus ever existed and that Beijing began to use the term "1992 consensus" only after 2000 in an effort to confuse people.

Cross-strait talks have been on hold since August 1999, when former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) declared his "special state-to-state" policy (兩國論).

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who delivered the keynote speech at yesterday's event, requested that all Cabinet agencies and local governments pay more attention to cross-strait affairs, which have become not only a political issue but also one of the nation's biggest challenges in a wide range of areas.

"Cross-strait relations are not the sole responsibility of the Mainland Affairs Council but indeed of all government agencies," Chen said.

"While Beijing allows its central and local units to deal with Taiwan affairs, similar institutions established here under local governments have not yet yielded satisfactory results," he said.
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