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Academics discuss ways to achieve cross-strait peace

Both Taiwan and China need to deal with the issues of transitional justice and social justice so that real peace can be achieved across the Taiwan Strait, a panel of experts on cross-strait relations said yesterday.

Former vice premier Tsai Ying-wen (蔡英文), as well as experts in cross-strait studies and their Chinese counterparts, were invited to a forum sponsored by the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies at National Chengchi University yesterday.

Saying that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was a common interest shared by Taiwan, China and the US, Tsai urged the public to learn to cooperate with others who might have different opinions or ideas in order to find a common ground for the nation.

Tung Li-wen (董立文), deputy executive director of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, said that both Taiwan and China were at a critical stage in coping with "justice" issues related to political and social development.

Tung said that calls for the government to deal with "transitional justice" had intensified over the years, but the administration had failed to address this issue despite the change in political power in 2000.

Tung said that while the government had focused on facilitating democratic progress, it had rarely dealt with injustices left by the former authoritarian government, creating a conflict between the democratic and legal systems.

These include dealing with the controversial assets of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), changing Taiwan's national title and even the special allowances for public officials, he said.

In China, under the Chinese Communist Party's autocratic rule, the issue of social justice mainly involves basic human rights such as education opportunities, medical services and housing problems.

"Democracy is the fundamental solution to these thorny problems for both sides," Tung said.
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