The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday reiterated calls for Beijing to begin a precondition-free constructive dialogue with Taipei, as it marked the 25th anniversary of the so-called landmark Koo-Wang talks.
The Koo-Wang talks refer to a meeting that took place from April 27 to April 29, 1993, in Singapore between then-Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) and his Chinese counterpart, then-Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits chairman Wang Daohan (汪道涵).
It was the first public meeting between the chairmen of Taiwanese and Chinese non-governmental organizations since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime’s 1949 retreat to Taiwan. The second Koo-Wang talks were held in China from Oct. 14 to Oct. 18, 1998.
“History has taught us that peace and communication are the keys to realizing mutual interests and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait,” the council said in a press release.
Beijing should look back at what encouraged both sides in the first place to overcome barriers, resolve their differences and safeguard peace across the Taiwan Strait over the past years when it looks to the future of cross-strait relations, the council said.
“[The two sides] should embark on virtuous interactions through precondition-free constructive communication,” it said, adding that the development of cross-strait relations has never been an easy task and that the burden should not fall on the shoulders of only one side.
The council made the remarks amid China’s increasing military activities in the Taiwan Strait and suspension of official communication channels between the two sides since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party took office in May 2016.
Beijing has said it would only resume dialogue with Taipei if the Tsai administration accepts the so-called “1992 consensus,” a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
While acknowledging the existence of a cross-strait gap in political ideas, the council said that Beijing’s unilateral and repeated attempts to intimidate Taipei and raise tensions were not only a misjudgement, but also ineffective in achieving a compromise.
“A breakthrough in cross-strait interaction can only be possible if Beijing is willing to put itself in our shoes ... and settle our differences through dialogue,” the council said.
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