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Economy can be bridge across the strait: MAC

Taiwan's top China policy planner said yesterday that the government has been planning to facilitate building a platform for peaceful interactions across the Taiwan Strait, beginning with economic activities.

Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said the two sides should begin to engage in economic activities soon as part of efforts to reactivate the long-stalled official exchanges between the two sides, which would pave the way for the building of a platform for peaceful and steady exchanges across the Strait as President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) advocated shortly after his re-election earlier this year.

The economic activities that the two side could launch include building a mechanism for making Chinese yuan convertible in this country, signing agreements on investment guarantees and the exemption of bilateral taxation, as well as talks about intellectual property rights, Wu added.

If the mechanism for exchanging the yuan cannot materialize between Taiwan and China in the near future because of political barriers, Wu said it might be best to first allow yuan to be exchanged on Kinmen and Matsu.

Meanwhile, Wu stressed that it is imperative for the two sides to seek peace and reconciliation across the Taiwan Strait.

He also again urged the Beijing leadership to face the reality of Taiwan's existence as a sovereign state.

Wu made the remarks during a live interview conducted by the Central Broadcasting System yesterday.
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