President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was misunderstood by a Japanese newspaper concerning his stance on the “one China” policy and the unification of Taiwan and China, Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Philip Yang (楊永明) said yesterday.
The GIO on Friday demanded that the Yomiuri Shimbun run a correction on what it called “inconsistency” in the transcript of a joint Nihon Keizai Shimbun interview with Ma on Thursday.
In an article published on Friday, the Yomiuri Shimbun said Ma had conducted cross-strait relations under the “one China” principle for the past three years, the GIO said.
The GIO’s statement said the Yomiuri Shimbun also quoted Ma as saying that he did not rule out engaging China in political negotiations or signing a peace agreement regarding Taiwan’s unification with China.
Yang, who was present during the interview, said the Yomiuri Shimbun might have made a slip of the pen regarding the one China principle, saying that Ma made no mention of unification when he answered the questions.
In a transcript provided by the Presidential Office, Ma said the development of cross-strait relations was based on the principles of “one China, with each side [of the Strait] having its own interpretation” and the so-called “1992 consensus” under the framework of the Republic of China’s Constitution.
Ma said he adhered to the principle of “no unification, no independence and no use of force” to maintain the “status quo” in cross-strait relations.
“The questions both of you asked regarding meeting with the mainland’s leaders, entering negotiations with the mainland on political issues and [signing] a peace agreement in the future, we do not rule out the possibility, but we do not have a timetable,” Ma said, according to the transcript.
During the interview, Ma spoke in Mandarin to Yomiuri Shimbun and Nihon Keizai Shimbun reporters through a translator, Yang said.
The GIO said it has not received a response from the Yomiuri Shimbun to its demand.
Toward the end of the interview, the Yomiuri Shimbun suggested that Ma, the first Mainlander to be elected president since Taiwan began democratically electing its president in 1996, has been haunted by his ethnic origin.
At a time when repression against ethnic Taiwanese after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime fled to Taiwan from China is still being discussed, Ma will anger ethnic Taiwanese if he makes any mistakes in running the government, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.
The newspapers also quoted “people close to Ma” as saying that Ma had complained to his family and people around him that “no matter what he said and did, everything was interpreted in a bad way. There was no reward for him.”
It is important for Ma to overcome the distrust of ethnic Taiwanese while he brings Taiwan closer to China for economic benefits, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, adding that Ma must still work to convince people of his insistence on Taiwan’s sovereignty.
The GIO said in a statement that the latter part of the story was “subjective bias,” “inconsistent with history and facts” and “could mislead readers.”
Ma did not say anything about Mainlanders in the interview, Yang said.
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