President Ma Ying-jeou held a press conference on the evening of October 19 at the Air Force Songshan Base Command to comment on his exclusive interview earlier in the day with the Associated Press (AP).
The president stressed that when asked during the interview about the possibility of political talks with mainland China, he consistently hewed to the longstanding principle that "economic matters come first, political matters later." Since the two sides are still in talks on many different economic matters, political matters will not be discussed, nor is there any timetable for doing so. In responding to the interviewers’ questions, furthermore, he never drew any link between this subject and the question of what matters might be addressed during his first term in office or a prospective second term. The AP report on the interview is therefore at odds with the facts. The Government Information Office has already contacted the AP to ask that it correct the error.
The president reiterated that his administration's policy toward mainland China calls for maintenance of the status quo—"no unification, no independence, and no use of force"—under the framework of the ROC Constitution. An overwhelming majority of ROC citizens support a continuation of the status quo. They hope, on the one hand, to maintain trade, academic, and cultural ties with mainland China, and at the same time also wish to maintain their current way of living, which includes democracy and freedom under a democratically elected president and national legislature. The people are not yet prepared for discussion of political matters—especially not the issue of reunification.
The president pointed out that the government's policy stance has always been to address "economic matters before political ones," "easy matters before difficult ones," and "urgent matters before non-urgent ones." In addition, public opinion polls show that 40% of the people feel that cross-strait relations are now proceeding at just the right pace, 37% feel that things are going too fast, and about 20% feel that progress is too slow, so the government will not accelerate the pace of cross-strait relations. In the future, all mainland affairs policies will "align with the nation's needs, have the people's support, and be subject to legislative oversight," which is what our citizens want.