Vice President Lien Chan stated today that as the Republic of China fully realizes that stability in the Taiwan Strait is of critical importance to peace in the Asia-Pacific region, it has adopted pragmatism in its policy to promote relations with mainland China in the hope of facilitating the region's security and stability.
The ROC has announced in 1991 the renunciation of using military force to settle problems across the Strait, and has gradually relaxed its control over cross-strait exchanges to lay a foundation for reciprocity and cooperation, he pointed out.
He stressed that although Peking has not yet responded favorably, the ROC remains committed to the stable development of cross-strait relations and the detente in the Strait area.
Vice President Lien made the remarks when addressing the opening ceremony of the 11th Asia Outlook Forum in Tainan City, southern Taiwan.
In his speech, he first expressed his sincere admiration to the forum participants for their positive contributions to peace, cooperation and prosperity in Asia.
After the September 21 earthquake this year, the most devastating quake this century to strike Taiwan, which caused serious loss of human life and property, the Japanese government and people have extended deep concern over and timely aid to Taiwan. Vice President Lien said that this has warmed the hearts of the people in Taiwan, and that it can be regarded as a concrete result borne from the longtime effort of the forum's scholars and experts in promoting the exchanges and cooperation between Taipei and Tokyo.
The Vice President said that following the end of the Cold War, international view on national security has changed remarkably, with confrontation giving way to cooperation as the approach to maintain regional security. After the establishment of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and through official and unofficial multilateral dialogue, Asia-Pacific countries have come to realize the need for strengthening international cooperation. The Asian financial crisis, which broke out from Thailand in 1997, has further helped most countries to understand the importance of international economic cooperation, he said.
However, he also stressed that despite the emergence of cooperation in new areas, the US-led bilateral military alliance, such as US-Japan security and defense system, has not weakened but rather has grown stronger, showing that traditional security cooperation remains very important.
From the experience of industrial countries, people can find that "sci-tech security," composed of human resources, information technology, hardware construction and organization management, has resulted in major changes regarding the make-up of national strength, Vice President Lien said. A country's scientific invention, technological innovation and science and technology applications have become part of its "soft power." In this context, developments in science and technology have added new elements to national defense and regional security, which deserves the world's attention, he added.
He said that facing the new international situation and security definition, most Asia-Pacific nations have been seeking peaceful competition, cooperation and prosperity through new thinking and active efforts. "Regrettably, however, the Peking authorities, unable to break the shackles of ideology, still sticks to obsolete hegemony and poses a potential threat to security in the region," he said.
He noted that as the ROC fully realizes that stability in the Taiwan Strait is of critical importance to peace in the Asia-Pacific region, it has adopted pragmatic policies to promote cross-strait relations in the hope of facilitating the region's security and stability. The ROC has announced in 1991 the renunciation of using military force to settle its problems with Peking, and has relaxed its control over cross-strait exchanges on a gradual basis to lay a foundation for reciprocity and cooperation, the Vice President pointed out. Although Peking has not responded favorably yet, the ROC remains committed to the stable development of cross-strait relations and the detente in the Strait, he added.
He further noted that the co-existence and separate rule of the two sides are historical and legal realities. Both sides must respect this reality and engaged in consultations based upon goodwill and parity, so that they can surmount political differences and jointly nurture a relationship favorable to peaceful and democratic reunification. Therefore, the ROC has presented the "special state-to-state relationship" in the hope of clarifying the ROC's existence on Taiwan and the definition of cross-strait relations. With this as the basis, the two sides can gradually build up mutual trust and a win-win environment, thereby helping to maintain peace in the Strait and secure stability in the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
Vice President Lien indicated that in Asia, democratization prevails, but socialist regimes and authoritarianism still remain, and that despite the presence of dialogue for security and cooperation, disputes over sovereignty and the shadow of military conflicts have not vanished yet. The world has seen that under difficult circumstances both at home and abroad, the ROC has overcome obstacles to implement democracy and enhance human rights. In the future, the ROC is more than willing to cooperate extensively with other Asia-Pacific countries, in order to secure sea lanes of communication and free trade and thus to promote prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
In closing, the Vice President said that given the vicinity of their geographic locations and development levels, Taipei and Tokyo can cooperate in many areas such as economy, politics and international affairs. By so doing, they can enhance their mutual interests and strengthen security in Asia, which has also been the goal of the Asia Outlook Forum since its establishment. He expressed his hope that upon the good foundation laid in the past, the forum’s participants will continue to cooperate so as to make maximum possible contributions to the development of their two countries and to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.