Taipei, Jan. 7 (CNA) As President Chen Shui-bian's New Year message has become the hottest cross-straight relations topic, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu, who's the highest ranking cross-departmental coordinator regarding cross-straight relations, sat down with CNA Friday to share his views on the
compelling issue.
On the cross-straight policy finetuning in which "proactive opening, effective management" has been replaced by "proactive management, effective opening," Wu said "there is a continuity in the cross-straight relations concept as well as every national policy."
"The president held a high-profile meeting, to which were invited officials from the President's Office, the MAC and other departments in the Executive Yuan as well as from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), on April 5 last year to review the issue (of cross-straight relations)."
"We admitted there are flaws in the 'management' part within governments and had a wide ranging discussion on how to improve the performance," Wu said.
"The DPP has always been an energetic party in which everyone can voice their opinion, " he said, adding that "never once has a DPP member not voiced their opinion on various policies."
On reactions of China and other countries to the president's New Year address, Wu said that "foreign representatives indeed are 'curious' about how we can do something that couldn't be done before. But they are not worried. The MAC continues to explain to officials from all countries to help them to have a better understanding of the
president's message."
"We haven't heard too much feedback from China. In fact, I don't think China should over-interpret the message because the trade imbalance between China and Taiwan is apparent. Official statistics show that over 60 percent of Taiwan's outward investment went to the China market, while unofficial tallies show the figure to be as high as 70 percent," he continued.
On the general views of the "sudden change" and the DPP's setback in the "three-in-one" local government elections Dec. 3 which led to the different approach on cross-straight issues to appeal to pro-independence supporters, Wu reiterated that "a major national policy is made after a serial and continuous cogitation and does not change over night."
Wu also commented on President Chen's remarks in his weekly newsletter that Taiwan has little expectation of an improvement in cross-strait relations, with Beijing repeatedly shrugging off goodwill gestures extended by Taipei.
"Each and every olive branch extended by Taiwan over the last two years has been ignored or received a negative reaction from China, " Wu noted.
"The president mentioned in his 2004 National Day address that he would take the initiative to propose that both sides use the basis of the 1992 meeting in Hong Kong, to seek possible schemes that are 'not necessarily perfect but acceptable', as a preparation for a step forward in the resumption of dialogue and consultation. But China regarded it as a Taiwan independence declaration, " Wu continued.
He added that "equally frustrating was China's blunt snub of an offer by Taiwanese officials to attend the funeral of Wang Daohan, president of the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) last year."
"In view of his experience in dealing with China over the last five years and China's insistence on its 'one-China principle' and the 'one nation, two systems' unification formula, which Taiwan will not accept, the president has little expectation of any political breakthrough with China in the coming year," Wu said.
"However, the MAC will keep pushing for exchanges between the two sides," Wu said.
On the "direct-flight referendum" which Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou said he will work on and regarding Ma's calls for amendments to the Statute Governing the Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, Wu noted that "the MAC released an evaluation report on direct flights, already a national
policy, in August 2003."
"The key will be negotiations between the two sides, but China has been mum on the issue," he added.
"A referendum or an amendment to the statute will not make the direct flights come true without negotiations between the two sides," Wu stressed.
"Of course the direct-flight issue can be submitted for a referendum, and I'm sure DPP members will be happy with it, since it's in the DPP platform. But the key player here will be China, which should not shy away from the Taiwan government and bilateral negotiations on every cross-straight issue," he continued.
On possible pressure the MAC may face if the proposed forum between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party, which is supposed to be held in a neutral country, makes a major breakthrough, Wu said that "I don't think the MAC will have any pressure from it."
"China made a lot of proposals when former KMT Chairman Lien Chan visited Beijing last May, but a lot of those proposals have either stagnated or failed. For example, Taiwanese fruit sales are down in China after receiving positive results at first," he noted.
"I may have said this a million times, but I have to say it again. Any official exchanges will in the end have to be through negotiations between the two sides. If China intends to improve the cross-straight relationship, it needs to understand the importance of mutual dialogue," Wu stressed.
On the trading issue regarding the "China fever" phenomenon and Taiwan's "Go-South Policy, " Wu reiterated that the so-called "China fever" is one of the reasons why the government encourages local business to "go south."
"The 'Go-South Policy' did not receive major local support initially, but it's getting stronger, as evidenced by the fact that Taiwan is already the biggest investor in Vietnam," he noted.
"We're also having encouraging results from India, which is very aggressive in cooperating with Taiwan, especially in the IT sector," Wu said.