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KMT `just trying to help': Wang

`Wang said the KMT hopes to do something for the country and should not be mistaken as intending to conduct some kind of peace talks ...'

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday that the special task force on cross-strait affairs that the legislature is planning to set up will facilitate direct and effective exchanges between Taiwan and China.

As to his proposal to invite Wu Bangguo (吳邦國), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, to visit, Wang said the proposal will have to be approved by the task force and the legislature before it can be carried out.

Wang, who is also a vice chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), put forth the proposal on Tuesday and immediately met opposition from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union legislators.

As for the visit to China by KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun (江丙坤), Wang said the trip is aimed at tempering cross-strait tensions.

Wang said the KMT hopes to do something for the country and should not be mistaken as intending to conduct some kind of peace talks with the Chinese Communist Party.

According to Wang, the KMT is seeking various means to try to remove the barriers between the two sides.

For example, Wang said, a visit by a KMT delegation earlier this year helped clear the way for the launch of the cross-strait Lunar New Year charter flights.

He said that the visit to China by KMT members is a kind of civil exchange and that the KMT does not represent the country without the government's authorization.

He also said that the postponement of the KMT chairmanship election until July has nothing to do with Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) plans to visit China.

DPP Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) yesterday said Wang's proposal is very untimely, particularly in light of China's March 14 enactment of its "Anti-Secession" Law targeting Taiwan.

Chai also called Wang's proposal to recognize Chinese academic degrees "a very dangerous thing," warning that "Taiwan could be subverted" by people who receive education in China if the proposal is adopted by the government.

Lawmaker Tsai Huang-liang, also of the DPP, said inviting Wu to Taiwan is not something the country and its people need.

He urged Wang to stop using cross-Taiwan Strait issues as a means of boosting his chances of winning his competition with Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for the upcoming KMT chairmanship election.

DPP Legislator Pan Meng-an, meanwhile, accused Wang of betraying the sovereignty of Taiwan just to win the support of pan-blue alliance hardliners.
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