A senior official of Taiwan affairs said that it is impossible for
the two sides of the Taiwan Straits to conduct political
negotiation on a government-to-government basis.
Under the one-China principle, any issues could be discussed only
if Taiwan accepts that it is an inalienable part of China, said
Wang Zaixi, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under the
State Council, when he talked on Wednesday with seven journalists
from a Southeast Asian Chinese-language media delegation visiting
Beijing.
Wang dismissed a recent report in the Taiwanese media that said the
"three direct links" could be achieved even if the island's leaders
didn't officially accept the one-China principle. The press took a
statement from a speech he made in Singapore out of context, he
insisted.
The "three direct links" refer to the postal, business and
transportation links between the two sides.
What he did say, Wang explained, was that the "three direct links"
should be dealt with as the internal affairs of one country. That's
not the same as Beijing loosening its stance on Taiwan's identity
as a part of China, he said.
Talks could occur party-to-party, but not state-to-state, Wang
asserted.
"The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping pushed the idea of
negotiations between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the
Kuomintang party," he said. "That was correct while the Kuomintang
held power in Taiwan."
He
said the two parties agreed in the past on the one-China concept.
The CPC insisted that, as long as that is accepted, any other
question can be negotiated. Then-KMT leader Chiang Ching-kuo agreed
that there is but one China.
Now that the KMT is no longer the ruling party in Taiwan, such
talks may not be proper now, but this doesn't mean talks should be
conducted between two "governments" across the Straits, Wang said.
To do so would contradict the one-China policy.
The two sides must find another format for talks, he said.
Wang blamed Taiwan's lack of sincerity for the current impasse in
the reunification process.
(chinadaily.com09/14/2001)
