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MAC chair faults Ma's `modus vivendi' proposal

Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) modus vivendi proposal was "passe" and "impractical," as long as Beijing refuses to forsake the "one China" principle.

"I think it's a bit strange for Ma to propose this idea when both China and Taiwan used to oppose it," Wu said yesterday at a press conference.

Wu said the idea of modus vivendi, a temporary agreement before a permanent settlement is reached, was not created by Ma. It was first proposed by the US academic Harry Harding in 1989 and was also similar to an "interim agreement" proposal by Kenneth Lieberthal, another US academic, as a solution for China and Taiwan, he said.

However, regardless of whether it is modus vivendi or an "interim agreement," as long as China sticks to the "one China" principle, plans for a temporary settlement won't work, Wu said.

Wu said that although Ma agreed to a "one China" principle -- which refers to China as the "Republic of China" -- the idea contradicts the guidelines of Beijing's 11th Five-year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, which stipulates that "Taiwan is an inseparable sacred territory of the People's Republic of China."

Under such circumstances, Wu said, "I wonder if Ma thinks there is still room for Taiwan to have its own interpretation of the `one China' principle."

Wu said he doubted that the proposal for a modus vivendi deal would be accepted by the Bush administration, as the idea had first been brought up in the 1990s, but was rejected by the KMT government and China at the time.

Wu said he didn't think the US government was trying to isolate the administration of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by holding high-profile talks with Ma during his trip to the US.

"I don't think the US government would try to isolate the DPP government by strengthening relations with the opposition party in Taiwan as it is basically against the interests of both the US and Taiwan," he said.
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