Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials responded to reports that the chairman of China's People's Political Consultative Conference, Jia Qinglin (賈慶林), had instructed officials to seek contact with "hardliners in Taiwan's pan-green camp" yesterday by saying that the DPP will monitor China's next move. However, the DPP also urged China to talk directly to the government without setting any preconditions.
According to Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po, Jia, who attended a meeting of the Political Consultative Conference held in Beijing yesterday, asked other attendees to take advantage of opportunities to "contact members of the pan-green camp in Taiwan, including `hardliners.'"
Lai I-chung (
"China never ceases to oppress Taiwan, whether it be in passing its `Anti-Secession' Law, increasing the number of missiles targeted at Taiwan, reducing the diplomatic space in which the nation can maneuver, or accusing us of taking steps toward independence. We can hardly see China's sincerity in dealing with the Taiwanese government," Lai said. "This does not help the progress of cross-strait relations."
Lai said that China has to be clear about one point, which is that Chinese authorities cannot avoid negotiating directly with the Taiwanese government. Contacting selected targets on a one-one-one basis will not work, he said.
"It is a mistake for China to differentiate President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) from his voters and the party he belongs to," Lai said. "No matter who China chooses to contact, it will not succeed if it rejects dialogue with the Taiwanese government."
Meanwhile, DPP legislative caucus whip Yeh Yi-jin (
"President Chen has said he is willing to have dialogue with China and we also think that more contact creates more understanding," Yeh said.
But Lai said that he suspected China's motives.
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