In light of Beijing's rejection of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) National Day speech calling for renewed dialogue, tension in the Taiwan Strait appeared to remain high.
Chen's conciliatory speech, however, was well-received by other nations, namely the US and Japan, who saw Chen's words as a gesture of goodwill. The speech also received favorable feedback domestically, political observers said.
"While China's response to Chen's speech was expected, Chen's National Day address helped in soothing domestic differences and conflict," said Chiu Hei-yuan (瞿海源), a sociology professor at National Taiwan University.
In his National Day address, Chen made reference to the "spirit of 1992" as the basis to return to the negotiation table for cross-strait talks.
While stating that both Taiwan and China can seek to establish political relations in any form so long as there is the consent of the 23 million Taiwanese people, Chen also suggested that both sides of the strait should review armament policies and "seek to establish a Code of Conduct across the Taiwan Strait (海峽行為準則) as a tangible guarantee of permanent peace in the Taiwan Strait."
Beijing, however, dismissed Chen's proposal and characterized Chen's speech as a blatant move toward Taiwan's independence.
Chen's initiative in extending an olive branch helped him score points in terms of international publicity, said Chiu, as he was recognized as willing to work out a peaceful solution to the cross-strait impasse.
"A gesture of goodwill is important ? as for achieving any sort of breakthrough with Beijing, that's a different matter," Chiu said.
According to a public opinion poll released yesterday, more than half of Taiwanese people surveyed were satisfied with Chen's National Day address.
The poll, conducted by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, also suggested that 47.8 percent of respondents supported Chen's notion that the two sides should resume dialogue based on the so-called "spirit of 1992," while 14.7 percent said they are against it, and 37.5 percent said they have no opinion on the issue.
Chiu interpreted Chen's address as a move return to the "middle way."
"Judging from criticisms made by [former president] Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and [presidential advisor] Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), Chen's words regarding the "1992 meeting in Hong Kong" were obviously not well-received by died-hard supporters of Taiwan's independence," said Chiu.
Chiu was referring to remarks made by former president Lee, who is widely regarded as the spiritual leader of the pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU). Lee on Monday called Chen's position that "the Republic of China is Taiwan, and Taiwan is the Republic of China" as rhetoric that was deceiving "himself as well as others."
Koo, a long-time advocate for Taiwan's independence, also said on Tuesday that it was inappropriate for Chen to encourage dialogue with China on the basis of the "1992 meeting in Hong Kong."
"Generally speaking, Chen's message did, to a certain degree, satisfy people on different points of the political spectrum, as we had not heard much criticism from the pro-unification groups," said Chiu.
Chiou Chwei-liang (邱垂亮), a visiting professor at the Graduate Institute of Southeast Asia Studies at Tamkang University said "Chen's rhetoric was conciliatory [to Beijing]."
Citing his position that "both Taiwan and China can seek to establish political relations in any form whatsoever so long as there is the consent of the 23 million people of Taiwan," Chiou said that Chen's speech "suggested that even unification could be an option."
"We wait to see if China's fourth-generation leaders will harbor a new scope of ideas, vision and wisdom to open talks with the Chen Shui-bian administration," Chiou said.
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