Sun, Mar 19, 2006 page3

• Ma is 100% pro-unification: Wu

  The debate on cross-strait relations has heated up in recent months, triggered by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou's statement last December that the KMT's 'eventual goal' is unification with China. President Chen Shui-bian counteracted that statement by 'ceasing' the activity of the National Unfication Council and guidelines. Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu sat down with 'Taipei Times' reporter Chang Yun-ping on Friday to give the DPP government's view on the KMT's cross-strait policy

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  Taipei Times: Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is leaving for the US today, and is likely to try to dispel US concerns that the KMT will not be pro-China, anti-US and anti-Japan if Ma is elected president in 2008. What do you think about this?

  Wu: [Ma's] track record in both his behavior and remarks shows that he is indeed pro-China, anti-America and anti-Japan. Militarily, Taiwan's biggest threat is from China. It is necessary and legitimate for Taiwan to increase its self-defense capabilities. When the US President George W. Bush approved an arms sale deal to Taiwan in 2001 -- which included weapons that will increase Taiwan's anti-missile and anti-submarine capabilities -- we saw the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) block the government's arms procurement budget a total of 45 times in the legislative procedural committee, thus preventing the bill from going to the legislative floor for debate and discussion. This track record shows that the KMT seems to strongly oppose Taiwan increasing its self-defense capabilities. Ma said in a speech at the London School of Economics (LSE) last month that increasing Taiwan's defense capabilities would be a form of arms race with China, so it is obvious that Ma is against the arms procurement bill.

  Another part of Ma's track record is his remarks on several occasions about Taiwan's relations with China. In December last year, Ma first spoke of the goal of "ultimate unification" with China during an interview with Newsweek magazine. Later, in an interview with the BBC's Chinese-language service, Ma said that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should jointly decide whether or not to unify when the time is ripe. Please note here that he only referred to unification as an option. He then continued to say that if the KMT comes to power again, it will not rule out the possibility of unification with China. And in his speech at LSE, he said he will endeavor to create conditions conducive to unification and for both Taiwan and China to agree to the "one China" principle.

  Judging by these comments, I think Ma is a 100 percent advocate of unification, which to a large extent has also contributed to his anti-Japan and anti-America stance. Ma's reaction to the Diaoyutai territorial dispute with Japan has been very emotional, with his hard-line approach against the Japanese government. In addition, his stance towards the US may not be one that is well matched to US interests, as could be seen from the KMT's non-supportive attitude to the US in 2001. The [DPP] government at that time expressed its support for the US' anti-terrorism campaign. But if we look at the major statements by KMT leaders at the time, we find that the KMT was opposing the US war on terror.

  TT: The public doesn't seem to be clear about the fact that Taiwan is not part of the People's Republic of China. Under the soft approach of China's "united front" tactics, it seems that quite a large portion of Taiwanese are not treating the Chinese threat as a serious matter. How do you see the development of such trends?

  Wu: Yes, we've began to notice such developments recently. Not only is the cross-strait economic balance tilting towards China, the political balance is starting to lean toward China as well. And while Taiwan is faced with an unprecedented difficult situation following China's passage of the "Anti-Secession" Law in March last year and its gearing up "united front" tactics against Taiwan, we saw the KMT acting closely in line with China's policy. Just look at the KMT's track record last year. We've clearly seen the party, whether under (former chairman) Lien Chan (連戰) or Ma Ying-jeou's leadership, maneuver to make Taiwan part of China in a very subtle way.

  For example, the KMT said the reason it blocked the arms procurement bill in the legislature is because they regard China's military deployment as not being targeted at all the Taiwanese, but just at a few pro-independence elements on the island. Such reasoning is exactly the same as China's. Even when China passed the Anti-Secession Law last year, which triggered strong condemnation around the world, the KMT's then chairman Lien Chan still insisted on visiting China. These moves have greatly hurt Taiwan.

  TT: What is the DPP's strategy to cope with the cross-strait stalemate, given that China will not give up its "one China" principle as a precondition to enter into dialogue with Taipei?

  Wu: There have been a few initiatives taking place across the Strait, such as the government's plan to allow Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan. We're now waiting for China to designate an agent in Taiwan to be the proxy for negotiating details on behalf of the Taiwanese authorities. But so far there's been no concrete results or response from China. The DPP government's policy has been that Taiwan is already an independent country, with the Republic of China as its national name. Most countries in the world accept Taiwan's de facto independence ... Taiwan independence is already a fact, and we have made it clear that we won't push for de jure independence. And we won't rule out any possibilities of relations with China in the future, as long as democratic principles are upheld. In the remaining two years or so, we'll continue to work on improving cross-strait relations, boosting domestic public opinion and international policy campaigns. And if China keeps rejecting our initiatives and goodwill, then we'll let it be.

  TT: What do you think of the change of Ma's policy tone from pushing for "ultimate unification" to mentioning independence as a choice for Taiwan?

  Wu: I think such flip-flops obviously reveal that Ma on the one hand wants to explain the KMT's position, but on the other hand, he also wanted to speak for the Taiwanese people. I think what he said [about the independence option] doesn't represent the KMT platform.
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