The decisive victory of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the March 22 presidential election represented a victory for democracy but not a defeat of the Taiwan-centric political line, a high-ranking Taiwanese official said on Thursday at the Taiwanese American Center in New York.
“Taiwanese identity and Taiwan-centric consciousness have become a consensus and common language in the country since the election,” said Tung Chen-yuan (童振源), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), who is currently on a speaking tour of the US.
“The KMT owed its victory partly to its tilting toward the Taiwan-centric advocacy that has been championed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP),” Tung said.
Tung said the contributions that outgoing President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has made in deepening Taiwan’s democratization and consolidating Taiwanese identity are undeniable.
“Chen’s efforts have altered the mode of cross-strait relations development and have also created strategic maneuvering space between the two sides,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tung said, China’s leadership has ceaselessly adjusted its Taiwan policies and is still adjusting them, which he said indicates that Beijing has also been unable to free itself from the impact of Taiwan’s democratic development.
Arguing that Taiwan’s democracy is a core asset in cross-strait relations and the bottom line of cross-strait negotiations, Tung said Beijing has had no choice but to adjust its stance in the face of Taiwan’s democratic progress.
He said that although Beijing has never openly acknowledged the notion of “one China, different interpretations,” its stance seems to have changed, according to a March 26 telephone dialogue between US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
A Xinhua news agency English-language report on Hu’s conversation with Bush reported that Hu said “it is China’s consistent stand that the Chinese mainland and Taiwan should restore consultation and talks on the basis of ‘the 1992 consensus,’ under which ‘both sides recognize that there is only one China, but agree to differ on its definition.’”
Hu’s remarks show that China in a sense will change and will accept the “one China, different interpretations” idea, Tung said, adding that should China anticipate any progress in political engagement across the Strait, it must face squarely the fact of the Republic of China’s existence on Taiwan.
He also said that Taiwan must get to know China better, given that it is an enemy and Taiwan’s closest neighbor.
He suggested that cross-strait relations be developed under a “triangular, two-tier” framework taking the opinions of Taiwan, China and the rest of the world into account, while heeding the will of the people on both sides of the Strait.
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