Mon, Dec 04, 2000 page3

• People to Chen: Don't change a thing

  CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS Over 90 percent of the respondents to a survey said they wished that China would respect Taiwan's space and democratic system

  • By Lin Mei-chun / STAFF REPORTER
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  Almost 90 percent of respondents to a survey released yesterday said they prefered to maintain the status quo in cross-strait relations.

  According to a poll conducted by the Taiwan National Peace and Security Research Association on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2, which received 1,119 replies, up to 89.8 percent of respondents favored maintaining the status quo in relations between China and Taiwan.

  Among this group, 39.3 percent think the development of relations between the two sides should hinge on the future interaction between the two governments, while 24.4 percent favor unification with China in the future and 12.6 prefer Taiwan to be independent in the future.

  Another 13.5 percent said the status quo should be maintained permanently.

  The report also indicated that 53 percent of the respondents believe the policy statement on cross-strait relations called the "three acknowledgments and four suggestions" issued by the President's Advisory Group on Cross-Strait Relations on Nov. 26 would have a positive effect on cross-strait relations, while 70.4 percent of the respondents disagreed with criticism made by Zhang Mingqing (張銘清), spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office under China's State Council, who said the recommendations were merely word games.

  When asked if the government had displayed enough sincerity toward reaching a peaceful solution of the cross-strait issue, 69.7 percent of respondents replied in the affirmative, whereas only 19.7 percent said Chinese authorities were willing to solve the cross-straits issue peacefully, the report said.

  As for the acknowledgements suggested by the advisory group, 90.4 percent of those interviewed expressed approval of the appeal to China to respect the dignity and the "space" of Taiwan and to end military threats and work together with Taiwan to sign a peace agreement.

  Of the respondents, 86.7 agreed that any change to the current cross-strait situation should be approved by the people of Taiwan through democratic measures.

  Liao Fu-te (廖福特), an international law lecturer at Tunghai University, said the results of the survey showed Taiwan seeks a peaceful and democratic solution to the cross-strait stalemate.

  Yan Jiann-fa (顏建發), director of the DPP's China affairs department, echoed Liao, saying the results showed that Taiwanese hoped China would forsake threats of force and that Taiwanese opposed Chinese policy to isolate Taiwan in the international community and suppress its democratic development of Taiwan.

  In related news, different parties offered diverging reactions to the advisory group's suggestions, which said the development of cross-strait relations and the handling of the "one China" principle would need to proceed according to the ROC Constitution.

  Former New Party convener Chen Kuei-miao (陳癸淼) said yesterday at a forum at the party's headquarters that acknowledgement of "one China" did not imply unification with China, but instead was a declaration against independence.

  DPP lawmaker Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) disagreed, saying the 1992 consensus formed by China claimed that the two sides across the Strait should both retain a "one China" policy and work for the reunification of the country. Shen argued that the DPP could not accept the statement "working for the reunification of the country" because the phrase ruled out all other possible alternatives.
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