President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he would make the people, peace and democracy the priorities in his efforts to develop cross-strait relations.
In the process of improving cross-strait relations and pursuing peace across the Taiwan Strait, Ma said, the government would defend the nation’s dignity and sovereignty under the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution.
“We will maintain the ‘status quo’ of no unification, no independence and no use of force, and push for cross-strait exchanges under the 1992 consensus,” he said at an event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), the semiofficial body used to hold negotiations with China.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Ma said that based on their respective Constitutions, Taiwan and China did not recognize each other and that both sides of the Taiwan Strait addressed cross-strait issues based on the so-called “mutual non-denial” principle — the most important foundation for the realization of peace across the Strait.
“Mutual non-denial is probably the most important foundation that can explain the current cross-strait situation and lead to peaceful cross-strait relations,” he said. “All the political parties should recognize this political reality to create a new path for the 23 million people [of Taiwan].”
Ma first proposed the term “mutual non-denial” during his presidential campaign in 2007. He said that as long as China and Taiwan could agree on the meaning of mutual non-denial, they would -automatically refer to the so-called “1992 consensus.”
He said he would make the public’s interest a priority as the government pursues exchanges with China and that he would never sacrifice the nation’s dignity and sovereignty in the name of peace.
Ma also vowed to make the process of cross-strait negotiations as transparent as possible by reporting the results of negotiations to the legislature.
The president also presented a posthumous honorary award to former SEF chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) for his contributions in cross-strait relations. The award was accepted by his wife, Cecilia Koo (辜嚴倬雲).
In 1993, Koo and his Chinese counterpart, then-Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait chairman Wang Daohan (汪道涵), held historic talks in Singapore.
SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kun (江丙坤) said cross-strait negotiations put the economy before politics and addressed easier issues. As negotiations enter a more difficult phase, the government would seek consensus with China on investment protection and dispute--settlement agreements in the next round of cross-strait talks, he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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