Monday, December 06, 2010

Ex-NSC head calls for 'Taiwan consensus,' cross-party dialogue

Taipei, Dec. 6 (CNA) Su Chi, a former secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), called for a "Taiwan consensus" and much-needed dialogue between domestic and cross-Taiwan Strait political rivals Monday.

Su, who resigned from the NSC in February but remains a close confidant of President Ma Ying-jeou, encouraged the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to engage in dialogue with the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) to form a Taiwan consensus that could enable Taiwan to negotiate with China boldly and confidently.

Speaking on Taiwan's external and internal relations at an international symposium, Su said the Taiwan-China-United States triangular relationship, which he called the "Big Triangle," had been stable over the past two and a half years under Ma.

But the "Small Triangle" -- describing relations among the KMT, the DPP and China's Communist Party -- had not been as stable mainly because "the DPP has not been talking to the KMT and the CPC" at all, he said.

Part of the problem, he said, was that the DPP's elite had yet to forge a consensus on the pro-independence party's China policy, with some insisting on anti-China positions and others taking more moderate stances.

He contended that incumbent DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen and former President Chen Shui-bian had not made a big enough effort to forge a consensus on the issue, and he said the lack of a DPP consensus was "actually dragging Taiwan down."

Su, who coined the formula for dealing with China as the "1992 Consensus" -- also known as "one China, different interpretations" -- advised the DPP to form a party consensus before eventually communicating with China's Communist Party.

He acknowledged that internal dialogue between the KMT and DPP could be difficult because of Taiwan's domestic political past and the level of politicization, but he still expressed a certain level of optimism.

Some DPP elites have begun to realize that the world was changing and that people's needs were changing as well, he said.

"They also have realized that Taiwan independence may be desirable, but not plausible, " said Su, now a professor at Tamkang University.

The KMT and the DPP might not agree on everything, "but at least we can agree on something, " Su said, adding that the lack of communication will be dangerous because it could cause misunderstandings.

Su said that while the two parties have not talked to each other or respected each other in the past, Taiwan's democracy has matured, making dialogue possible.

He welcomed Tsai's plans to establish a think tank to help formulate the DPP's China policy and policies on external relations.

Looking at future cross-strait development, the former national intelligence chief said he had four major concerns -- the "one-China" principle, Taiwan's international space, confidence-building measures and a peace agreement.

The "one-China" principle, he said, would be the key because the other three issues were all related to it.

Taiwan's engagement with China before the critical 2012 presidential election is expected to remain focused on economic issues, with political issues unlikely to move onto the agenda, he said. (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls