China, Taiwan on path of 'interim agreement'

boy in blues SG

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U.S. scholar says Taiwan, China on path of 'interim agreement'

2005-12-07 / CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY /

Taiwan and China seem to be treading on a path of a so-called "interim agreement" on improved bilateral ties, a China expert claimed yesterday.
Giving a keynote speech on cross-Taiwan Strait relations at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University, Dean Harry Harding said Taiwan and China seem to have moved toward a path of an "interim agreement," as both sides have taken certain measures or been forced to do so to improve two-way ties.

In view of the Kuomintang's win in the December 3 elections, Beijing will not make trouble across the strait but instead will be willing to wait until 2008, when the KMT is expected to win back power in next presidential election, he said.

After more than one year of confrontation since March 2004, when President Chen Shui-bian (ÂG) decided to hold a controversial public referendum along with the presidential poll and repeatedly called Taiwan an independent sovereignty, Taiwan-China ties have stabilized as both sides have sought not to step over the line drawn by the other side and with the U.S. ready to step in in the event of a potential conflict, according to Harding.

Internal and external exchanges have made cross-strait relations more amenable, he added.

According to Harding, various Chinese officials visiting Washington, D.C. last week told him that Beijing will put aside the unification issue while focusing on containing Taiwan independence at present. To some extent, Beijing is willing to hold talks with Chen's administration, he claimed.

The "interim agreement" to which he referred would be an accord signed by Taiwan and China under which Taiwan would not declare formal independence in exchange for a guarantee of no military attack by China during the next 30-50 years.

The interim agreement proposal was initiated by Kenneth Lieberthal, a scholar at the University of Michigan, to help Taiwan and China prevent a war.

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http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/12/14/worldupdates/2005-12-14T102029Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-227872-1&sec=Worldupdates

Taiwan people want peace with mainland, says China

BEIJING (Reuters) - China, which views self-ruled Taiwan as its own, said on Wednesday the defeat of a pro-independence party in local polls showed the people valued stability and peace with the mainland.

Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang, which favours eventual reunification with China, trounced Chen Shui-bian's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in local government elections on Dec. 3.

"The result of the recent Taiwan election reflects the Taiwan people's wish for a stable society, a developing economy and peaceful relations between the mainland and Taiwan," Li Weiyi, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, told a news conference.

China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of the civil war in 1949, when the Communists took power on the mainland and the Kuomintang, which had ruled all of China, fled to the island.

China insists on its eventual return to the fold -- by force if necessary -- and has refused to hold talks with Chen's DPP because of its pro-independence leanings.

Analysts say the DPP's defeat had more to do with a corruption scandal involving a former presidential aide than the party's pro-independence stance.

Li did not give any details of the chances for a visit to the mainland by Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of the Kuomintang, saying only, "it is a consensus reached by the Communists and the KMT to establish platforms for mutual communication and visits".

KMT leader Lien Chan visited mainland China in April, becoming the first leader of his party to set foot there since the civil war.

Ma is widely viewed as the frontrunner for Taiwan's 2008 presidential race.

boy in blues SG

Soong urges better relations with China to protect economy

CNA , KUALA LUMPUR
Friday, Dec 16, 2005,Page 3
The key to avoiding Taiwan from being marginalized is to engage with China, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (v^àï) said yesterday.

Speaking at the Perdanam Global Peace Forum in Malaysia, Soong said that as new economic and political blocs in Asia take shape with China playing increasingly important roles, the only option for Taiwan to avoid being relegated to the sidelines is to improve cross-strait relations.

Taiwan, which has in the past maintained closed economic and trade ties with member states of the ASEAN, particularly Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, is finding it has fewer bargain chips in its maneuvering space in the region after China's rise and the growth of Chinese influence, Soong said.

During previous APEC meetings, many Asian countries sought bilateral consultations with Taiwan for closer economic and trade ties, but now these countries have turned to China, he said.

Given that much has changed over the past two years, Soong said, China has become the world's factory and the world's market and has attracted many Asian countries because of its economy.

Malaysia's two-way trade with Taiwan used to be larger than that with China, but now it is trading with China in volumes much bigger than those with Taiwan, he said, which is a worrisome situation for Taiwan.

Taiwan will face more serious problems once the "ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea" become reality, Soong said.

Taiwan's competitiveness will automatically slide since its exports to the "ASEAN plus three" members will be much more expensive with tariffs, the PFP chairman said.

Soong said Taiwan's government should seek to be on better terms with Beijing's leaders, who told him during avisit earlier this year that as long as Taiwan does not seek de jure independence, China would allow Taiwan to enjoy "a certain extent of maneuvering space" in the international community.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/12/16/2003284624

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It's time for Chen to quit

2005/12/21

President Chen Shui-bian won the presidency in 2000 with only 39 percent of the votes, but his approval rating was 77 percent after the first month in office.
Last week, in the middle of Chen's second term, the same pollster, the cable news network TVBS, found the president's approval rating had dropped, incredibly, to 10 percent, while disapprovals had surged to 73 percent.

In sharp contrast, approval for Chen's main opposition rival, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou, who heads the former ruling Kuomintang, rose to 80 percent, up from 65 shortly after he was elected KMT chairman in August.

The poll found public support for Ma's party had also advanced to a record 47 percent, while backing for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party slipped to a record low of 12 percent.

More astonishing, Ma was far more popular than Chen even among DPP's supporters, 58 versus 35 percent.

The KMT's efforts to seek further cooperation with its ally, the People First Party, and Ma's vow to reform his aged party, were cited as reasons for its increasing public appeal. At the same time, DPP's humiliating defeat in the Dec. 3 local government elections and the ensuing infighting contributed to its faltering public support.

Meanwhile, a survey by Era News, another cable network, found only 19.7 percent say they have confidence in President Chen while 66.9 percent say no. Almost all opinion surveys named President Chen as the only one to blame for DPP's election fiasco, as well as Taiwan's prolonged political upheavals, economic stagnation and social instability because of his anti-China policies.

People are fed up with Chen.

A deeper analysis finds seeds of Chen's failure in his character, family and policy flip-flops.

The president is a great campaigner but a man of poor taste with few inspiring qualities. In politics as well as in art, talent enables one to stand out in a crowd, but he needs taste to generate respect, and style to inspire a following.

The first lady, Wu Shu-chen, is famous for offering timely counsel to tycoons on business deals. A regular stock investor, she was fined for unreported trading earnings. She bought a Jaguar for her son to drive to work when he was in military service. The family of her daughter and son-in-law bought economy-class tickets but flew first-class on a vacation trip to the U.S.

The president's chief fund-raiser, a former presidential deputy secretary-general, has been indicted for involvement in the widening Kaohsiung metro project corruption scandal. Another presidential deputy secretary-general, just like the former one, is charged with conducting illegal stock trading through accounts of office staffers.

A Taiwan independence activist, the president reached a surprising "one-China" consensus with the ultra anti-independence opposition leader following the DPP's failure to win a majority of legislative seats in last year's elections.

And Chen's repeated promise to end the decades-old ban on direct transport links with the mainland has still yet to be realized after nearly six years in power.

Most of Taiwan's foreign investors have relocated to the mainland. Over one million of Taiwan's businesspeople, their families, and college students have chosen to settle there. And yet, Chen's government still restricts high-tech industries to outsource and fruit farmers to export to the mainland.

For Chen, this is the end. To borrow, again, a premier from the opposition camp, can't improve his poor legacy but will make his game of treachery look uglier.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/editorial/detail.asp?onNews=&GRP=i&id=73932