| 10.10.2004 The Straits Times Chen calls for peace talks with China National Day speech calls for talks based on 1992 meeting, but analysts on both sides of strait dismiss his 'empty words' By Lawrence Chung TAIPEI - President Chen Shui-bian used the occasion of Taiwan's National Day yesterday to call for peace talks with China to reduce military tensions that threatened to spark a war in recent months. 'The threat of military force poses the greatest shadows of terror and forces of darkness across the Taiwan Strait,' he told guests gathered in front of the Presidential Palace for the Double Ten celebrations. He said peace can only be maintained if both sides exercise restraint, and proposed using a 1992 meeting in Hong Kong as a model for a new round of talks. In the 1992 meeting, representatives of Taiwan's former Kuomintang (KMT) government and China agreed that there was only one China and each side could have its own interpretation of 'one China'. That agreement, later dubbed the '1992 consensus', paved the way for historic negotiations in Singapore. But talks broke down in 1999 when then Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui angered Beijing by redefining ties as 'special state to state' relations. Mr Chen yesterday did not elaborate on his proposal or explicitly refer to the '1992 consensus'. His speech, far more conciliatory than in previous years, came amid rising international concern over escalating cross-strait tensions. Mr Chen also restated the promises he made during his May 20 inaugural speech, that he would not change the island's status quo or push for a new Constitution. He proposed that the two sides end hostility and set up a mutual trust mechanism to avoid misunderstanding that could lead to war. Washington was quick to hail Mr Chen's 'constructive message'. There was no official response from Beijing. However, opposition politicians and analysts in Taiwan saw Mr Chen's remarks as mere rhetoric and unlikely to break the cross-strait stalemate. Opposition KMT chairman Lien Chan, who boycotted yesterday's ceremony, called the remarks 'just another round of word games aimed at cheating the world and fooling the public'. Political analysts agreed that conflicting signals from Mr Chen would only heighten cross-strait tensions. 'President Chen has kept sending mixed signals in the past week. On the one hand, he said he would demonstrate his goodwill to the mainland. But on the other hand, he kept promoting the independent identity of Taiwan on various occasions,' said Taiwanese political analyst Emile Sheng. In a break from tradition, Mr Chen did not lead the crowd in chanting 'long live the Republic of China' yesterday. On Saturday, the Foreign Ministry referred to the island as the 'Republic of China (Taiwan)' for the first time in a diplomatic document. Recently, Mr Chen praised Mongolia for its decision decades ago to declare independence from China, adding that 'this is something worth studying by Taiwan'. Analyst Andrew Yang pointed out that instead of pleasing China, Mr Chen's address was highly provocative. 'He was actually asking for country-to-country talks with the mainland as exemplified by his emphasis on the equal footing between Taiwan and China,' he said. In his address, Mr Chen said the resolution adopted by the United Nations in 1971, which gave China a seat on the world body, never 'endows the PRC any right to represent the people of Taiwan'. He also said: 'In the future, the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China - or Taiwan and China - can seek to establish political relations in any form whatsoever', so long as there is consent from Taiwan's 23 million people. In Beijing, scholars also dismissed Mr Chen's gestures as 'empty words', saying that he had evaded the 1992 consensus on 'one China'. Beijing's stand is that the 'one China' principle is the basic framework for any talks. 'There is not enough sincerity as he has evaded the most basic issue,' said Dr Zhou Zhongfei of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies. -- Additionalreporting by Goh Sui Noi in Beijing. |
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