KMT chief eyes peace agreement with mainland (Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-14 14:28
TAIPEI - The leader of Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) has said he
would reopen talks and aim to sign a peace agreement with the mainland if his
party regained power in the next "presidential" election.
Ma Ying-jeou,
seen by many as the opposition's best bet for victory in the 2008 polls, said in
a speech that moves by local politicians to promote what he called unilateral
secession could be a recipe for disaster.
Addressing audiences at
the London School of Economics and Political Science on Monday, Ma said the KMT
would seek to resume talks with the mainland, stalled since 1999, if it won back
the "presidency".
"The intermediate goal, though, is for both sides to
negotiate and put into effect a viable peace agreement that can serve as a
framework guiding cross-Strait interactions in decades ahead," said Ma, who also
serves as the mayor of capital Taipei.
The KMT, or Nationalists, once
ruled all of China and fled to Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war in
1949. The party enjoyed uninterrupted rule of the island until 2000, when it
lost to Chen's DPP.
Beijing refuses to deal with "president" Chen
Shui-bian, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) stands for an independent
Taiwan identity. Chen cannot run for "president" again as he is already in his
second term.
Mindful of a growing consciousness in Taiwan identity, Ma
said the KMT supported the political status quo and had no timetable for
reunification with the mainland.
"Since Taiwan has become a full-fledged
democracy, reunification with mainland cannot proceed without the consent
of Taiwanese people," Ma said.
"Therefore, as of now, there is no
timetable for reunification; nor is there any urgency for such a move on either
side of the Taiwan Strait," said the popular Ma, once voted Taiwan's sexiest man
and most popular politician.
Chen has said Ma's pro-unification stance
prompted him to order a review of 15-year-old official guidelines on unification
in a bid to shake off Beijing's claim of sovereignty over Taiwan.
Chen
said last month that it was time to consider scrapping the island's "National
Unification Council" and its guidelines on unification with the mainland. His
comments have alarmed Washington and angered Beijing.
Local media said a
decision was expected soon, possibly by the end of February.
The council
was set up in 1990 by the KMT administration and was once the island's top
policy-making body on the issue of unification. But it has been dormant since
Chen took office.
An opinion poll by cable news network TVBS last week
showed 49 percent of 1,136 respondents opposed scrapping the council and the
guidelines. Fifty-seven percent said they were worried relations with the
mainland would worsen if Taiwan decided to do so.
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