The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday criticized vice president-elect Vincent Siew’s (蕭萬長) weekend trip to the Boao Forum in China, calling it a “disgrace” for Taiwan.
“I really hope that when Taiwan and China resume their talks in the future, the way Siew was treated in Boao will not become a regular occurrence,” DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) said during a press conference yesterday morning.
Lai said that China had treated Siew like a local government head since Siew was made to sit with the chief executives of Hong Kong and Macau. Siew also had to use his “Taiwan compatriot travel document” to enter China, they said.
“All of the related documents, propaganda and the Web site for the Boao Forum listed Taiwan along with Hong Kong and Macau as parts of China. The Chinese government also took advantage of this international event to promote its ‘one China’ policy. These moves all jeopardized Taiwan’s sovereignty,” DPP deputy caucus whip Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said.
PRAISE FOR EFFORTS
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus, however, yesterday lauded Siew’s efforts, saying that he had been able to reconfirm that the so-called “1992 consensus” would be the basis of future cross-strait communication.
At a press conference held by KMT caucus acting secretary-general Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), KMT Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) said Siew’s confirmation of the consensus during his meeting with Hu had proven that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had been wrong when he said that the consensus did not exist.
Siew had also been able to make sure that Taiwan and China would push cross-strait trade and economic cooperation on the basis of co-existence and co-prosperity, Sun said.
“The greatest accomplishment of the forum is that, as Mr Siew said, [both sides] agreed to put aside controversy and pursue win-win cross-strait relations,” Hsieh told the conference.
INTERNATIONAL VIEWS
KMT Legislator Lee Jih-chu (李紀珠) urged the public to give Siew credit because the international community had viewed Siew’s meeting with Hu positively.
She added that the KMT has the ability to carry out agreements reached during the Siew-Hu meeting after the transition of power next month.
In related developments, KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said China’s intent to invest in Ma’s “i-Taiwan 12 infrastructure projects” would not create a problem as long as the transparency of the investment is ensured.
“We should look at the issue from an economic point of view. If we only consider [cross-strait] issues from a political perspective, cross-strait relations will always be clouded,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the DPP vowed to safeguard the city’s interests by asking the president-elect to require Chinese tourists arrive and leave the nation from Kaohsiung — a move she said would help the city benefit from the expected boom in Chinese tourism.
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