Dr. Huang Kun-huei, Secretary-General to the President, stated today that how to maintain peace and stability in cross-strait relations through exchanges and dialogue is a major task for the Republic of China at the present. Cross-strait exchanges and dialogue are not only consistent with the common interest of the people on both sides of the Strait, but also relate closely to stability in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
The third meeting of the research councilors of the Fifth National Unification Council (NUC) convened this morning at the Presidential Office, with Dr. Su Chi, member and also convener of the NUC's research body, presiding. Upon invitation, Secretary-General Huang attended the occasion and gave a brief speech.
The Secretary-General said that several significant events associated with cross-strait relations took place during the recent months. They included: the resumption last April of exchanges and consultations between the ROC's Straits Exchange Foundation and mainland China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits after a suspension of two years and ten months; Peking convening its "National Conference on Taiwan" in May of this year, wherein it continued to trumpet its "peaceful unification," "one country, two systems" and "Jiang Zeming's eight points;" and U.S. President Clinton's utterance of the so-called "new three no's" during his recent visit to mainland China, which had an impact on the ROC. These events show that the future development of cross-strait relations will draw greater world attention, he added.
He said that Peking has consistently employed its "two-pronged strategy" against Taiwan. While calling for the opening of cross-strait political negotiation and the termination of hostility between the two sides at the earliest possible time, it has continued to impose military threats on the ROC. While formulating its "Regulations Regarding the Protection of Taiwanese Investors," it has arrested the ROC's businessmen on trumped-up charges. While resuming cross-strait exchanges, it has continued to blockade the ROC in the international arena. Secretary-General Huang added, Peking has either cold-shouldered or criticized the various goodwill proposals of the ROC government, such as cross-strait agricultural cooperation, ROC assistance in the reform of mainland China's state enterprises, and cross-strait cooperation to help resolve the Southeast Asian financial crisis.
Secretary-General Huang asserted that in the face of Peking's unreasonableness, how to promote peace and stability through cross-strait exchanges and dialogue has become the ROC's major task for the present. Cross-strait exchanges and dialogue serve the common interest of their people and relate closely to stability in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
Following his speech, Vice Foreign Minister David Dawei Lee, Vice Chairman Sheu Ke-sheng of the Mainland Affairs Council, and Hu Wei-jen, Deputy Director-General of the National Security Bureau, each gave a report on "Clinton-Jiang Talks and Pragmatic Diplomacy," "Reviews and Prospects of Cross-strait Relations" and "An Analysis on Mainland China's Policy and Strategy Toward Taiwan," respectively.
After listening to the reports, the meeting participants enthusiastically voiced their opinions on related topics. These opinions will be collected and sorted before being presented to President Lee Teng-hui and the National Unification Council for reference.