Vice President Annette Lu (
"We should not focus only on tough words in the statements made by the Beijing authorities around the time of [our] inauguration," Lu said during an interview with the Central Broadcasting System (CBS).
Despite opposition claims that Beijing is nearing the limit of its patience with the Democratic Progressive Party government, Lu said that the cross-strait relationship has improved and that goodwill from both sides is on show.
"Those remarks, including the statement issued on May 17 by China's state-run institute for journalism, President Chen's inauguration speech and the official reaction from Beijing on May 24 have offered some space for positive developments," Lu said.
"The Beijing authorities have always sounded off at Taiwan whenever we expressed our intention to march toward democracy and expand the country's visibility in the international community. This time they have demonstrated this in a manner more modest than ever before," she said.
"I would say that the leaders on both sides of the Strait have began an `air dialogue' and are creating bases for communication."
Lu also said that representing the president while visiting three of the nation's allies in Central America, as well as stopovers in the US, will show that the relationship with the US is on track.
"After President Chen pledged to carry out Taiwan's first referendum, some tensions were created both locally and overseas. Some people worried that such developments would affect Taiwan's situation and the US-Taiwan friendship. My visit to our allies and the short stopover in the US -- our best friend -- should indicate that we are now finally enjoying the coming of another spring," Lu said.
Lu has advocated a new "cross-strait" relationship between East Asia and the Americas and is hoping this trip will strengthen the bridge between Taiwan and countries on the other side of the Pacific.
"I would like to express my gratitude to the US government for supporting Taiwan joining the Organization of American States (OAS) as an observer," Lu said during her farewell speech at the airport. "I expect to return with concrete results facilitating Taiwan's bid to expand its international space."
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