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KMT chairman suggests missile gesture

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) said yesterday that China could demonstrate its goodwill toward Taiwan by reducing the number of ballistic missiles it has pointing at Taiwan.

“What I emphasized [during the meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) last Wednesday] was that Taiwan needed security, dignity and international space. [Chinese Communist Party (CCP)] Chairman Hu responded positively,” he said on his way to a Hakka event in Taipei.

Wu went to Beijing last Tuesday, and on Wednesday met Hu in an unprecedented encounter between the chairmen of Taiwan’s and China’s governing parties.

Wu, who returned from his China trip on Saturday evening, said Taiwan’s offers of aid to victims of the Sichuan earthquake had contributed to an amicable atmosphere across the Taiwan Strait creating an opportunity for positive interaction between both sides.

“The Chinese people have goodwill toward Taiwan. I don’t believe military conflict between Taiwan and China is possible in this atmosphere,” he said.

Wu was asked to elaborate yesterday on a remark he made on Saturday evening during a meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Wu told Ma that he felt it was unlikely that Beijing would launch a missile attack against Taiwan, a reference to the more than 1,300 ballistic missiles China has targeted at Taiwan.

Wu said yesterday that both Taipei and Beijing can make joint efforts to prevent war as “wars are the stupidest human behavior.”

He said China can change the missile situation anytime, adding that Beijing can show its goodwill to Taiwan by scaling down the number of the missiles directed across the Taiwan Strait.

Comparing the KMT-CCP communication platform to a “lubricant during past cross-strait tension,” Wu said he expected the platform to serve a similar function after an official cross-strait communication channel is resumed.

In a letter from China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait to Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) on Thursday, Beijing said it accepted Taiwan’s invitation to hold cross-strait negotiations on weekend passenger charter flights and opening Taiwan to Chinese tourists. It invited SEF representatives to visit Beijing from June 11 to June 14, which Taiwan has accepted.

Wu yesterday also confirmed that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅) will head the Taiwan Affairs Office, adding that the KMT delegation learned the news soon after arriving in China.

Wu said the appointment of Wang may help China strike a balance between its cross-strait and foreign affairs policies.

“I felt that this appointment may help their office understand that their constant oppression of our international space hinders the development of cross-strait relations,” he said.

Additional reporting by CNA
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