Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday criticized the head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) for suggesting there would be no difficulty achieving a consensus on matters needing cross-strait cooperation.
Wu said that TAO Director Chen Yunlin's (陳雲林) words and actions were inconsistent.
Chen reportedly said that "as long as Taiwan and China can talk with all sincerity, then there will be no difficulty in dealing with the issues such as cargo and passenger charter flights, fruit exports to China and the opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourists."
He had made the remarks during a meeting in Beijing with a delegation from the Sinocon Industrial Standards Foundation headed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (
SWEET WORDS
In response to the comments, Wu told reporters, "They [China] always talk in a sweet way in public, but in private, what they do is a nasty way [sic]. They are still doing that."
He said that Taiwan had been trying to enter into negotiations on the three issues with China ever since the visits to China by KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
"China seems to be reluctant to negotiate with Taiwan. Concerning the cross-strait relationship, China is still playing a two-handed strategy [saying one thing while doing another]," Wu said.
"One difficulty is that opposition legislators are frequently visiting China. China's government is taking their businesses into consideration. Therefore, they don't want to rush into negotiation with Taiwan," he said.
After Wu's meeting with the press, council Vice Chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) told reporters that, "Taking action is more important than saying what you wish for."
Because the government had commissioned the Taiwan External Trade Development Council and the Association of Airfreight Forwarding and Logistics, China should commission institutions of like similar to expedite cross-strait negotiations, You said.
As for the trip by Chiang and his delegation, which was to attend a Cross-Strait Forum on Industrial Standards in the Information Industry (IT) and which included dozens of businesspeople from that sector, Wu said that "the forum should be helpful in both sides' industrial development. We wish the forum to be successful."
COOPERATION
Wu said that Chiang had a talk with him before heading to China.
"We think that the forum can improve Taiwan's industry development. This kind of cooperation can also enhance the cooperation of two sides. I told Chiang that if he got any idea and bring back to Taiwan, the government can pursue the conclusion," Wu said.
In interviews with by China's media, Chiang said the IT industry was the lifeline of Taiwan's economy. He said the forum would be a good start for cross-strait exchanges and cooperation in industrial standards.
"China has been tightening up its ideology, press control and other kinds of social control because [it] seems to have some problems to deal with -- their social unrest in recent months," Wu said.
With China facing more domestic unrest, some might have thought Beijing would look to find something more constructive from the cross-strait relationship.
"However, we haven't seen [anything] like that ... China seems to be reluctant to negotiate with Taiwan," Wu said.
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