The legislative caucus of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday that Taiwan will "never fail" if the two sides of the Taiwan Strait engage in government-to-government dialogue.
DPP caucus whip Lai Ching-teh (
Lai said that state-to-state dialogue would conform with the interests of the US and Taiwan.
He said that the US saw China as the most important power in the Asia-Pacific region in regard to the maintenance of peace and stability, and that Taiwan could be a key force in the process.
If China took advantage of opposition parties for political gain as part of "united front" tactics, then Taiwan would either be unstable or end up under Chinese control -- both of which would be unwelcome developments for the US, he said.
Lai said Chen was elected by the people and that with the people behind him, government-to-government talks would foil Beijing's attempts to splinter Taiwan.
He also slammed the meeting between Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Beijing on Friday. A platform for more communication between the KMT and the CCP was released in a five-point bulletin after the talks.
Lai said the DPP suspects there is a three-part agenda shared by the KMT and the CCP -- the first being the Lien-Hu meeting, the second an exchange of offices, and thirdly the signing of a peace and trade agreement.
Lien alleged Lien and Hu adjusted the "exchange of offices" to a "communication platform" and changed the "agreement" to a "news bulletin" for fear of violating Taiwanese law.
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