Wed, Dec 23, 2009 page3

• CROSS-STRAIT TALKS: MAC chair mentioned missiles to envoy

  • By Ko Shu-ling and Mo Yan-chih / STAFF REPORTERS, IN TAICHUNG
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  Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) said she mentioned China’s military threat to Taiwan during her meeting with Beijing’s top cross-strait negotiator yesterday, and that she also emphasized the importance of governments winning the support of the public.

  After meeting Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) yesterday afternoon, Lai told reporters that during their closed-door meeting, she told him that cross-strait detente could not be reached under the shadow of military threat — especially missiles targeting Taiwan.

  “It makes Taiwanese very uncomfortable and most of them oppose such a threat,” she said.

  

  Protesters display two mock missiles reading “Dismantle the missiles on the mainland” during a demonstration outside the Windsor Hotel where Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin was staying in Taichung yesterday.

  PHOTO: PATRICK LIN, AFP

  Lai said political issues were not a priority in the cross-strait negotiations at the moment, adding that the government’s cross-strait policy is to proceed gradually and tackle the easier and more urgent issues before moving on to the more difficult and less pressing ones. Economic issues precede political ones, she said.

  “The institutionalized negotiation system is the right way to go,” she said. “Public support is the most important element of political negotiations. As long as we can continue down the road, obtain the support of the public and keep it convinced that we can secure its interests, one day we will enter a stage that no political force can reverse or resist.”

  The government should not and would not avoid political negotiations in the future, she said, but what both sides should focus on now is gaining experience, wisdom and trust through negotiations.

  Lai said that an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) the administration seeks to sign with Beijing would not be modeled on Hong Kong’s closer economic partnership agreement (CEPA) because Taiwanese do not support the “one country, two systems” policy.

  Lai said they hoped to launch negotiations on an ECFA early next year and ink the proposed accord during the fifth round of cross-strait official talks scheduled for the first half of next year.

  Later last night, speaking at a dinner banquet hosted by ARATS, Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) said he regretted that Chen was unable to enjoy the freedom of touring the country. Chiang also apologized to Taichung residents over inconvenience caused by tight security measures.

  “I am sorry that the security measures for the cross-strait negotiations caused inconvenience and uneasiness to Taichung residents,” he said at the Windsor Hotel.

  Chen, on the other hand, described the Chiang-Chen meeting yesterday as “another historic moment” and said the cross-strait negotiations would help promote economic development across the Taiwan Strait and push for peaceful relations.

  “The people in Taiwan chose “Yearning (pan, 盼)” as the word of the year for next year. Yearning means ‘expectation’ and ‘hope,’” he said. “As 2010 approaches, we expect and hope that the two sides will enjoy rapid economic development and peaceful cross-strait relations.”

  As yesterday marked winter solstice on the Lunar calendar, the hotel prepared glutinous rice balls for Chen, Chiang and the guests for a dinner banquet.
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