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MAC seeks to soothe jitters over a pan-green majority

A pan-green majority in the legislature will be conducive to improved cross-strait ties and bring about political stability, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday.

"If the pan-green camp manages to secure a majority in the Legislative Yuan, China will have to divest itself of the illusion that the pan-blue camp will return to power. China would then be more willing to sit down with the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] and the pan-green camp," Wu said yesterday during an international press conference.

Wu went on to demonstrate that despite concerns that political moves instigated by the ruling DPP would threaten cross-strait ties, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had adhered to promises to employ goodwill.

"In 2000, when Chen was elected president, everyone was afraid that war and a formal declaration of independence was imminent ? But that hasn't happened," Wu said.

"Our overall policy is one of goodwill, active cooperation, and lasting peace. You can't go wrong with this," Wu said.

In an attempt to assuage fears that the push for a pan-green majority and Chen's proposal for constitutional reform would destabilize cross-strait relations, Wu said the moves were part of the nation's democratization.

"Taiwan is a new democracy and there are many lingering issues left behind by past authorities," Wu said, adding that the national emblem closely resembles that of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and that the national anthem was the KMT's anthem.

"Our pursuit of democratization has nothing to do with changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait," Wu said.

Wu said that the chance for negotiations and constitutional reform were not mutually exclusive.

"But we will explain the process so as to minimize the impact," he said of constitutional reform.
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