Taiwan’s Ma Ying-jeou follows Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese hero-worship path

By CrossStrait | April 15, 2009

Postage stamps tell an informative, but one-sided, history of a nation. You get the official version of things with those little bits of paper and ink that pay for mail service.

The temptation in dictators and monarchs to use the stamps for self-aggrandizement is strong and many succumb to their ego and vanity and use postage stamps to boost their own popularity.

Queen Elizabeth in England is probably the worst violator, seeing her silhouette on stamps world-wide. Some of the rulers who like to look at themselves also use postage stamps to tell their own story and advance their political agenda.

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of the Nationalist Republic of China started putting his picture on stamps early. Chiang even issued a special stamp to commemorate his own birthday.

The Generalissimo used postage stamps to advance his standing in the civil war with the Communist People’s Republic of China featuring ROC stamps with the United States flag.

Chiang also used postage stamps to cement his hold over Formosa after he fled to the island following the 1949 Communist revolution in China. The face of the exiled Chinese ruler was to be found everywhere, on the money, on the stamps, on billboards and posters. The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is symbolic of the excess to which Chiang and his Kuomintang followers went.

Chiang Ching-kuo, the Generalissimo’s son, inherited the power of the throne and went on to lead his own Chinese regime in-exile ruling Taiwan under harsh martial law. Chiang, however, was not the same egotist his father was and avoided many of the propaganda tools, including postage stamps, for his own personal gratification.

The supposed Taiwan ‘tradition’ of inaugural stamps was begun by Chiang Kai-shek in China with his mug shot on an oversize 1945 color stamp featuring the ROC flag and Chiang’s ceremonial uniform with its self-awarded medals.

Chiang issued another inaugural stamp to commemorate his takeover of Taiwan and the ‘tradition’ was born. Incumbent ROC in-exile President Ma Ying-jeou is so far on four postage stamps with Vice-President Hsaio Wan-tsang. The special commemorative set of four stamps was issued on May 20, 2008, shortly after Ma took office.

Ma’s four stamps with Hsaio show the pair holding hands on two with Ma holding two babies on another. The fourth stamp in the series is perhaps the most candid with Ma giving a fist ’salute’.

Is a Ma Ying-jeou birthday stamp next?

SOURCE: http://www.examiner.com/x-1969-Boston-Progressive-Examiner~y2009m4d15-Ma-Yingjeou-uses-ROC-postage-stamp-to-shake-his-fist-in-popularity-bid

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Taiwan’s Former President Goes on Trial for Corruption

By CrossStrait | March 26, 2009

BEIJING — The corruption trial of Taiwan’s former president, Chen Shui-bian, opened in a heavily guarded Taipei courtroom on Thursday, hours after Mr. Chen blasted the proceedings as a “tool for political suppression and persecution” by his successor.

Mr. Chen, who claimed the presidency in 2000 with a pledge to end political corruption, faces charges of bribery and embezzlement that could draw a sentence of life in prison. He resigned from Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party last August after admitting that his wife had wired 700 million Taiwanese dollars ($21 million) in campaign funds to accounts in Singapore, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.

Prosecutors since have charged that he stole or took bribes totaling more than a billion Taiwanese dollars ($30 million), sometimes in return for political favors involving land deals. His wife, Wu Shu-chen, his son and his daughter-in-law pleaded guilty last month to money laundering, and Mrs. Wu also pleaded guilty to forgery.

But Mr. Chen has insisted that he is innocent, saying his wife, then Taiwan’s first lady, handled campaign money and that he was ignorant of the dealings. He has maintained the charges are a plot by Taiwan’s current president, Ma Ying-jeou, to win favor with China’s government.

During his eight years in office, Mr. Chen was a fierce advocate of independence from China, which still claims sovereignty over Taiwan nearly 60 years after a civil war split the island’s government from the mainland. Mr. Ma has favored much closer relations with Beijing.

On Wednesday, Mr. Chen issued a statement in which he charged that his conviction “was prepared in advance and the sentence was already determined.”

“In order to win favors and protection from Beijing, the KMT” — the Kuomintang, Mr. Ma’s political party — “has launched a purge against me.”

Although the evidence against Mr. Chen is strong, some analysts have said, the government’s handling of the case has been less than deft. Prosecutors were criticized after they participated in a skit before hundreds of Justice Ministry officials which clearly mocked Mr. Chen. Mr. Chen has won sympathy by claiming that his detention without bail — and, at first, without any contact with his family — has been unjustly harsh.

Mr. Chen was brought to court in Taipei surrounded by guards and in handcuffs.

J. Bruce Jacobs, a Taiwan scholar at Australia’s Monash University, is among about 20 experts who recently sent letters to Taiwan’s justice minister and President Ma raising concerns about the fairness of the prosecution.

“The prosecutors have been going a bit wild,” he said in a telephone interview Thursday, “and how this trial is conducted will be critical. This is an important landmark in Taiwan’s whole process of democratization.”

The trial opened with testimony from a businessman who said he had arranged a Taipei land deal in which the land’s owner offered Ms. Wu a $11.8 million “commission” in 2003 to push the government to purchase the property. Mr. Chen testified that he knew his wife had received 200 million Taiwanese dollars for the sale, but he denied that the businessman, Tsai Ming-chieh, had talked to him about it.

The trial is expected to last until mid-April, court officials said.

SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/world/asia/27taiwan.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

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Taiwan urges China to revoke anti-secession law

By CrossStrait | March 14, 2009

The government urged China yesterday to drop its aggressive approach to dealing with Taiwan by annulling its anti-secession law and removing its missiles targeting Taiwan, on the fourth anniversary of the enactment of the law by Beijing.The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a statement that revoking such “outmoded” legislation is essential to restoring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and creating a mutually beneficial situation.

“The communist Chinese authorities should face the changing cross-strait situation with a more positive attitude and renounce their military threat against Taiwan,” the MAC said.

The law, which the Beijing authorities use to empower themselves to use “non-peaceful means” against Taiwan should the island move toward independence, was enacted in 2005, at a time when cross-strait tensions were escalating under the then-leadership of Taiwan’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party.

According to the MAC, the law is totally unacceptable to the people of Taiwan and inconsistent with Beijing’s advocacy of peaceful development of cross-strait relations.

Over the past nine months since the inauguration of President Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan has been working to upholding peace and prosperity across the strait and has successfully forged several agreements with China that are beneficial to the people of both sides, the MAC said, adding that these efforts have won the support of the people in Taiwan and of the international community.

Also commenting on the issue, Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi said Beijing should “take the feelings of the Taiwanese people seriously and take proper steps to deal with the law.”

“We believe the Chinese authorities are wise enough to know how to deal with it properly,” Wang said.

He argued that the circumstantial setting based on which the law was enacted is now changed, which is evident from the fact that cross-strait tensions have been moderating and mutual trust increasing over the past nine months.

According to Wang, Ma thinks the law is “unnecessary, ” because the majority of the people in Taiwan are in favor of maintaining the status quo and do not support Taiwan independence.

The law is also “unfeasible” for attaining the goal that Beijing desires, as the peaceful development of cross-strait relations requires a two-way reciprocal process in which the two sides interact with each other with goodwill, Wang said.

“The matter should not be decided by the Chinese authorities unilaterally or non-peacefully,” he said.

SOURCE: http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=892836&lang=eng_news

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Ma, KMT insincere in remorse over Taiwan 228 Incident: Tsai

By CrossStrait | March 2, 2009

Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen declared yesterday that President Ma Ying-jeou and other leaders of the the right-wing ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT) have yet to sincerely show remorse or re-examine the KMT regime’s responsibility for the Feb. 28th Massacre of 1947 and the subsequent “white terror” under four decades of KMT martial law rule.Tsai made the remarks yesterday morning during a ceremony attended by senior DPP officials and lawmakers conducted at the city memorial to the 228 Incident, during which over 10,000 Taiwanese were killed by KMT troops to suppress a spontaneous revolt against the government of the late Republic of China president and KMT autocrat Chiang Kai-shek, which took over Taiwan in October 1945 after 50 years of Japanese rule.

For the first time ever, the central commemoration of the Feb. 28th Incident was to be held at 10 am this morning in Kaohsiung City in a square adjacent to the Kaohsiung City Historical Museum next to the port city’s Love River.espite the possibility of protests by survivors of the “228″ victims or their relatives, President Ma Ying-jeou will attend the ceremony and deliver a 10 minute address.

Kaohsiung City Deputy Mayor Lee Yung-teh told The Taiwan News while the National Security Bureau will be responsible for the president’s safety, the DPP city administration will also mobilize nearly 1,000 police to “ensure order.”

Lee also told The Taiwan News that the city government had instructed local police to use “soft persuasion” to maintain order and to ensure that “everyone’s right to express their views is respected,” but urged participants to arrive before 9:30 am due to the need for security checks.

Although Tsai will also attend the Kaohsiung event, she said DPP headquarters held the ceremony at the Taipei memorial “to show that we have not forgotten” the victims of the “228 massacre.”

In her remarks, Tsai said that “our generation of Taiwanese cannot forget and must tell the next generation that Taiwan history experienced such a tragedy, which destroyed so many families.”

“We must understand that mistaken attitudes or bad decisions by rulers can result in immense pain and harm that can last for generations,” she said.

“We can forgive historical mistakes but history cannot be forgotten,” said Tsai, who added that “the precondition for the forgiveness of historical mistakes is that the person who committed the errors must sincerely engage in reexamination and acknowledge the mistakes.”

Tsai said that the KMT had “fallen far short” of this precondition and added that it was the DPP’s “duty” to “inform the ruling KMT that antagonism and division are surfacing in our society and that root of these trends lies in the fact that the people who have made mistakes have not re-examined themselves.”

Regarding Ma’s acknow-ledgement that Chiang Kai-shek had responsibility for the Feb. 28th Incident, Tsai commented that it was obvious that the late KMT dictator was responsible for the bloody massacre but asked whether Ma and the KMT, as Chiang’s political successors, had made any serious attempt to re-examine the late dictator’s responsibility in the past 62 years.

Moreover, the DPP chairwoman said Ma and his KMT government have exacerbated the polarization in Taiwan society through “arrogance and ignorance” in decision making and by failing to show any concern for the feelings of the people.

Tsai cited the decision by the KMT-controlled Legislative Yuan to completely axe the NT$300 million budget for the Feb. 28th Memorial Foundation and the National 228 Memorial Museum as “inflicting unbearable harm on the feelings of ?28′ victims or their descendants.”

The DPP chair commented that, in the wake of the handling of these budgets and statements made by KMT lawmakers and government officials afterward, “we have no choice but to wonder whether the ruling party has any sincerity in examining itself at all.”

SOURCE: http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=878876&lang=eng_news

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Monetary transfers set to start to Taiwan

By CrossStrait | February 11, 2009

TWO-WAY monetary remittances are expected to start soon between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan for the first time in 60 years, a mainland official said in Beijing yesterday.

The official also announced enhanced cooperation on health issues and a seminar designed to spur the development of the information technology industry on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Fan Liqing, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, did not give an exact start date for the remittance service, but Taiwan’s Chunghwa Post Co reported earlier that it should begin by mid-February.

“Post offices on the mainland and Taiwan are conducting technical tests, and the service will start soon after the tests are done,” Fan said.

US$30,000 limit

According to Taiwan media, all remittance transactions will be made in US dollars, with each transfer limited to US$30,000. Citibank New York will serve as the intermediary bank.

Fan said that after the start of the two-way remittances, the two sides will discuss the possibility of cross-strait mail orders and online order services.

The mainland and Taiwan signed a series of landmark agreements on direct air, sea and postal services last November in Taipei. These direct links formally started on December 15.

Fan also said yesterday that Taiwan is now directly connected to the World Health Organization system on global health alerts.

The WHO will send its global public health alerts to Taiwan, instead of through the mainland, and involve the Taiwan Center for Disease Control in its discussions on the prevention of epidemics.

The WHO will also send experts to Taiwan in the event of epidemics.

Fan also announced that the Chinese mainland and Taiwan will hold a forum on information technology standards in the southwestern city of Chongqing on February 26 and 27.

Topics of the forum include audio-video coding standards, third-generation mobile technology, mobile memory, “green” power, light emitting diodes and Internet-protocol television.

More than 300 entrepreneurs, professionals and scholars from both sides of the Taiwan Strait will attend.

SOURCE: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200902/20090212/article_390771.htm

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More Chinese tourists in Taiwan

By CrossStrait | February 3, 2009

TAIPEI - AROUND 13,000 Chinese tourists have travelled to Taiwan for the Lunar New Year holidays, and the number is expected to reach up to 360,000 this year amid warming cross-Strait ties, officials said on Tuesday.

The Chinese tourists spent a daily average of US$293 (S$444) during the holidays from Jan 24 until Feb 1, according to a survey by Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau.

‘The number of Chinese arrivals did not beat our forecast,’ Mr Anthony Liao, president of Taiwan’s leading tour operator Phoenix Tours, said.

But he added that he was ‘cautiously optimistic’ that Chinese arrivals would average 1,000 a day as Beijing is expected to further ease restrictions on Taiwan-bound tours.

Chinese authorities on Jan 20 opened up a further 12 provinces and cities to Taiwan, meaning its citizens from 25 provinces and cities are now allowed to visit the island.

China is expected later this month to raise from 33 to 100 the number of Chinese tour operators offering Taiwan visits, Mr Liao said.

Mr Shao Qiwei, of China’s National Tourism Administratio,n is scheduled to lead a group of 500 tour industry delegates to Taiwan on Feb 25, he said.

‘If the target of bringing 1,000 Chinese tourists to Taiwan per day is realised, it would generate business opportunities worth up to NT$20 billion (S$896.8 million) this year, and therefore increase 10,000 jobs here,’ Mr Liao said.

Taiwan’s China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou administration and Beijing held talks and signed agreements in June to launch regular direct flights and treble the number of Chinese allowed to visit the island to 3,000 daily.

But Taiwan’s pro-independence opposition Democratic Progressive Party warned the Ma administration not to rely too much on China for economic stability.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949 but Beijing considers the island part of its territory and is determined to get it back, by force if necessary.

But relations have improved dramatically since Mr Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang party took office last May. — AFP

SOURCE: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_333755.html

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President promises better times ahead

By CrossStrait | January 27, 2009

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) vowed yesterday to lead the country through the global economic recession, saying he was confident the joint efforts of the government and people would eventually succeed. “I am here to guarantee you that the administration will do its best to create better economic conditions,” he said. “The bitter winter will pass and the spring will come. I promise I will not let you down.”

Ma made the remarks in his televised recorded Lunar New Year’s Eve address. He made the speech in Mandarin, Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) and Hakka.

Acknowledging the impact of the worldwide economic downturn, Ma said he realized many people had “complicated feelings” on this year’s New Year’s Eve.

He said Taiwan has experienced a lot over the past year, including the legislative and presidential elections, which were held without a hitch and the country’s democratization, which was hailed by the international community as a “beacon of democracy” for Asia and the world.

Cross-strait tension had also eased, he said, adding that direct cross-strait transportation links were launched, the country’s international profile had been raised to a higher level and the public again had confidence in the judiciary.

“However, Taiwan is also experiencing a ‘once-in-a-century’ financial storm and economic recession. Many people lost their jobs for the very first time,” he said.

The economic slowdown has indeed delivered a blow to the country, he said, but the public should not lose faith because “Taiwan is, after all, our home.”

As long as Taiwanese unite and work together, he said, he was confident the country would weather such economic adversity.

Ma spent the last day of the Year of the Rat yesterday visiting people from all walks of life to thank them for their efforts over the past year. They included firefighters, senior citizens, coast guards and police officers. He also visited various temples to pray for a prosperous Year of the Ox.

Ma began at 8:30am by visiting a tailor in Rueifang Township (瑞芳) in Taipei County before ringing the Lotus Bell at the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist temple in Jinshan Township at 10:40pm.

Ma visited three other temples yesterday and was scheduled to visit 10 more today to mark Lunar New Year’s Day. He will also visit former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) for the second time since he took office last May. Lee has been outspoken in his criticism of Ma’s China-friendly economic policy, cross-strait policy and Japan policy.

Ma will visit five more temples tomorrow and also distribute red envelopes at Ma Village (馬家庄) in Miaoli County’s Tongsiao Township (通宵).

Ma Village’s residents are mostly surnamed Ma, but none of the Hong Kong-born president’s ancestors or relatives have ever lived there.

No public engagements have been arranged for Ma and Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.

On Friday, Ma will visit the Lin Family Gardens in Banciao (板橋), Taipei County, and attend Yo-yo Ma’s (馬友友) Lunar New Year concert at the National Concert Hall in the evening, while Siew will travel to Hualien.

Ma will visit three more temples on Saturday and attend Lunar New Year’s events in Taichung City and Kaohsiung City. He will also visit senior presidential adviser Lin Yang-kang (林洋港) in Taichung City and attend the opening ceremony of Kaohsiung City’s Lantern Festival.

SOURCE: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/01/26/2003434660

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Taiwan gravel shippers protest against Chinese discrimination

By CrossStrait | January 19, 2009

Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) Members of Taiwanese gravel shipping businesses protested Monday in front of the Executive Yuan against what they described as Chinese discrimination in cross-Taiwan Strait transport of Chinese natural gravel, and demanded equal participation in direct cross-strait shipping services.According to the protesters, China has prohibited the transport of Chinese natural gravel by most Taiwanese ships, while allowing their own ships to continue doing so, which they say will eventually lead to a Chinese monopoly on cross-strait gravel shipping services and its dominance of Taiwan’s gravel market.

“We had no problem with the Chinese before the opening of the cross-strait `three links, ‘” one of the protesters said, adding that the rules and regulations concerning gravel shipping by Taiwanese businesses have increased significantly since the launch of the direct cross-strait transport links.

“This kind of unequal treatment has had a very negative impact on our business, ” noted the protester, who added that “the government should address the problem immediately.” Responding to the protesters’ demands, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) noted that exports of natural gravel, also described as river gravel, are supervised and controlled by the Chinese government, with limited annual quotas in place.

Equal participation is the guiding principle in dealing with issues regarding direct cross-strait shipping services, said the MOTC, adding that any problems or disputes will be addressed through bilateral trade and economic negotiations with China.

According to the MOTC, there are 10 Chinese vessels and nine Taiwanese vessels authorized by the Taiwanese government to provide cross-strait gravel shipping services. On the other hand, China has authorized only six of its own ships and 10 Taiwanese ships to transport gravel across the strait, with five of the 10 Taiwanese ships allowed by China to ship Chinese natural gravel to Taiwan.

According to a statement issued by Taiwan’s Bureau of Mines earlier this month, local demand for gravel and sand will increase by an estimated 7.2 percent in 2009 due to public infrastructure projects to be launched by the government to help revive the economy.

The Bureau of Mines expects 21.7 million cubic meters of natural gravel and sand to come from Taiwan’s rivers, 19.8 million cubic meters to come from land sources and 16.8 million cubic meters to be imported, mainly from China, as the launch of direct transport links between the two sides has made it cheaper to import Chinese gravel.

SOURCE: http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=843037&lang=eng_news

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How fragile a free Taiwan

By CrossStrait | January 12, 2009

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Freedom can be such a fragile thing.

And here where the freedom to gather and to protest, is a mere two decades old, well, it is valued above all else - especially by its students, its best and brightest.

This is a generation that has not known the deprivation of their parents and grandparents, not known the civil war of 1949 - that largely ended its relationship with the mainland - or the two decades of martial law that ended in 1989.

But they do know McDonalds and Starbucks. At Taipei 101, currently the world’s tallest building (until a skyscraper in Dubai beats it by a story or two this spring), teenagers do what they do in shopping malls the world over - they giggle over Haagen Dazs and they window shop in some of the world’s gliziest stores.

And yes, even during the current economic downtown - which has indeed caused a retail slump here as elsewhere - there is no shortage of food in the shops or on the streets, no absence of people filling restaurants for Sunday lunch (even at the pricier places) or shopping for Christmas presents, a largely secular gesture here given that only about 5 percent of the population is Christian.

So yes, hearing “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” on a warm Taipei evening under a canope of dazzling Christmas lights is a kind of out-of-body experience - a combination of the strange and the familiar.

And the enormous campus of the 80-year-old National Taiwan University, home to nearly 30,000 students, also feels like home - that is if you don’t count the experimental rice paddy run by the agricultural school or the fact that thousands of students are perpetually riding around (sometimes two at a time) on bicycles.

But what this young generation can’t forget - and won’t allow visitors too either - is that it could all be at risk in a heartbeat.

This island nation, which China still considers a “breakaway province,” remains within missile range of the mainland. And an accord signed last month with Beijing to increase direct flights, shipping and mail is contributing to the unease, especially among those who favor independence.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou ran on a platform of improving relations with Beijing - and not being “the other guy” - the other guy being then President Chen Shui-bian, who has since has been imprisoned on corruption charges. But the popularity of the Harvard-educated Ma has faded with the tanking economy and with the rough handling of demonstrators from the rival Democratic Progressive Party last month. DPP members and others with independence on their mind were protesting the visit of an emissary from the mainland.

So on a balmy night in Kaohsiung in the south, which remains a hotbed of the independence movement, DPP stalwarts rallied in a gentle, flag-waving, music-enfused demonstration - as much a social event as a political one.

Students chatted after and posed for photos with their “Taiwan is ours” flags and T-shirts, and insisting “Taiwan’s Number 1” as if it were a championship team.

The next day back north in Taipei, students - some supporters of independence, some not - filled Liberty Square near Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall all in support of, well, the right to gather, to demonstrate, to protest.

They are called “the Wild Strawberries” - not after a Bergman film, but because “strawberries are delicate, easily crushed,” explains, Yuan Hui Hu, a former head of the nation’s public broadcasting system, now affiliated with NTU. The movement, little more than a month old, objects to a parade and assembly law that requires a police permit for such marches.

On this day, this protest by some 4,000 students (and a scattering of their elders), all goes well.

They are indeed young and idealistic and filled with hope - not unlike their counterparts in the U.S. But here they do not take their freedom for granted. They know it is a special thing, a delicate thing, as delicate as well, a wild strawberry.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view/2008_12_17_How_fragile_a_free_Taiwan/srvc=home&position=recent

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Hu’s new thinking on cross-strait issues

By CrossStrait | January 7, 2009

Beijing, China — Chinese President Hu Jintao gave an upbeat speech on Taiwan last week, in which he made six proposals aimed at strengthening relations with the island. They included ending hostilities between the two sides; achieving a peace accord; promoting economic cooperation; allowing the island to participate in international organizations; building mutual trust in politics and even initiating military exchanges.

Hu’s speech, given in Beijing on Dec. 31, has been hailed as reflecting “new thinking” toward the island and some of the knotty problems that have plagued cross-strait relations.

Hu even expressed a willingness to engage in dialogue with the island’s opposition party – the Democratic Progressive Party, which favors independence for Taiwan – under the precondition that the party abandon its “secessionist” view.

Hu delivered the speech to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the National People’s Congress “Message to Compatriots in Taiwan.” In the message of Jan. 1, 1979, China for the first time shifted its approach away from restoring Taiwan by force to advocating peaceful unification. At the same time China stopped bombarding the island of Kimen, which belongs to Taiwan.

That message was also the first to suggest that direct postal, transportation and business links be established with Taiwan. This proposal was finally realized last month, when regular direct flights, shipping and mail between the mainland and the island were set up after negotiations between the two semi-governmental organizations that represent the two sides, China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan’s Strait Exchange Foundation.

At the time, Taiwan’s response to the Chinese proposal was “no touch, no compromise and no negotiations.” The island had been stunned by the U.S. decision to sever diplomatic relations with it in order to establish them with the People’s Republic of China.

“The Chinese people on both sides of the strait bear the responsibility to terminate their hostile history, strive to avoid a repetition of the fighting between compatriots on the two sides, and allow their descendents to work hand-in-hand to create a wonderful life in a peaceful environment,” said Hu. Even though they are not yet a unified country, the two sides could initiate practical cooperation, he added.

Further, Hu raised the issue of expanding the island’s “international space” – allowing Taiwan to participate in international organizations – which the island has long pursued.

Some analysts have interpreted this to mean that China will approve Taiwan’s participation as an observer in the World Health Assembly in Geneva in May, under the name of “Chinese Taipei” – the name the island uses at the Olympics.

Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou confirmed in an interview with local media that joining the WHA was indeed being discussed with Chinese authorities. Experts believe that the Taiwanese will be more supportive of Ma’s mainland policy if the island can finally attain its goal of joining the WHA.

Wang Yu-chi, a spokesman for Taiwan’s Presidential Office, said that Hu’s talk reflected changes in the mainland’s Taiwan policy over the past 30 years. He said Taiwan was willing to pursue cross-strait relations based on peace and mutual development, to promote negotiations and reciprocity rather than hostility, to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation and to create new opportunities for both sides.

The Mainland Affairs Council, which guides Taiwan’s mainland policy, said the economic and cultural exchanges currently on the table were the most important for the people on both sides of the strait and could help build a solid foundation for mutual trust. The council also re-emphasized “putting aside disputes and pursuing a win-win situation.”

In addition to the current economic exchanges, Hu went so far as to propose military exchanges and the creation of a military and security mutual trust mechanism.

Lisa Chi, spokeswoman for Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, responded by saying that peace and development across the Taiwan Strait were the common wish of people throughout the Asian-Pacific region, and that the army would be “glad to see it achieved.” The army has already made plans for such a security mechanism, Chi said.

Some experts have pointed out that the Taiwanese authorities must have considered how to implement this without placing the island’s security in danger before the direct air and shipping became available last month.

Dr. King Rong-yung, head of the Institute of International Relations at the National Chengchi University in Taiwan, commented that the DPP might not change its pro-independence stance as a result of Hu’s speech. But, he said, the majority of the Taiwanese would be more positive toward China if the mainland could assist Taiwan in the ongoing global financial crisis.

Hu said in the speech that it was possible for Chinese authorities to interact with the island’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party as long as the DPP no longer insisted on Taiwan’s independence.

However, the DPP refused Hu’s call. “It is a violation of democratic principles for someone to ask a political party to forsake its advocacy or stance as a condition for the start of bilateral dialogue or interaction,” commented DPP Chairman Tsai Ing-wen.

The DPP’s international affairs department also released a statement, saying that the issues to be tackled should include the Taiwan people’s feelings about China’s military threats, its diplomatic suppression and economic clout, rather than the DPP’s advocacy of independence.

In fact, President Ma has repeatedly stated that the more than 1,000 missiles China has aimed at the island must be removed before Taiwan would sign any peace accord with China.

The Hong Kong-based weekly Yazhou Zhoukan reported last Friday that China had reached an internal consensus to gradually withdraw the missiles aimed at Taiwan, as soon as cross-strait military exchanges are launched. Some mainland scholars are also positive about this possibility

SOURCE: http://www.upiasia.com/Politics/2009/01/06/hus_new_thinking_on_cross-strait_issues/2173/

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