Taipei, July 27 (CNA) The difference between Taipei and Beijing can be resolved only if both sides start by facing reality, Vice President Lien Chan said on Tuesday.
Meeting with a group of US delegates attending a forum in Taipei on peace and security in the Taiwan Strait, Lien reiterated what he told Time Magazine last week -- the reality is that the Republic of China has been a sovereign state since 1912, and is not, as Beijing claims, a breakaway province of the People's Republic of China.
In a defense of President Lee Teng-hui's statement that the Taipei-Beijing relationship should be put on a "state-to-state" basis, Lien said it was aimed at reminding the international community of the reality facing Taiwan.
However, Lien said, a clarification of the ROC's position is by no means a change of position. In fact, he went on, there has been neither a switch in Taipei's policy toward mainland China nor a shift away from its long denouncement of Taiwan independence.
Lee's statement was timed to be aired before the proposed visit to Taiwan this fall by Beijing's top negotiator with the island, Wang Daohan, Lien explained, because if Wang raises political issues with Taipei during his trip, it is vital for Taipei to clarify the status of cross-strait relations.
This is all the more important because of some opinions in Washington which expect such political dialogue to take place, and because of concerns in Taipei that Washington's policy shift toward Beijing will be unfavorable to Taipei's advocacy of parity.
Lee aired his statement to the Deutsche Welle radio station of Germany on July 9 because Germany is an apt example of how two states with the same cultural heritage and historical ties can integrate when the time and conditions are right, said Lien.
Lien reiterated his advocacy of no Taiwan independence, no hasty reunification with mainland China, and no confrontation with mainland China -- the so-called "three noes" policy toward Beijing.
Instead, Lien said, Taiwan wants peace, exchanges with mainland China, and a win-win situation for both sides.
Noting that military conflict is the last thing anyone wants to see, Lien vowed to push ahead with a mainland China policy for Taiwan which is based on peace, sensibility, parity and reciprocity.