According to a news report on February 24, President Ma Ying-jeou on February 23 attended a Lunar New Year reception held by Taiwan's six major industrial and commerce associations. At the gathering, the president expressed his hopes that mainland Chinese will increase their investment in Taiwan. This, that report said, is complementary to remarks made by Chen Yunlin, chairman of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, who mentioned his desire to see more mainland Chinese investment in Taiwan. Meanwhile, there have been reports here associated with the positive response made by the spokesman of the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Yang Yi to a request by President Ma for the government here to refer to the other side of the Taiwan Strait as "mainland China" or "the mainland" in official documents. That news report said that these two events point to the two sides of the Taiwan Strait holding the same stance on the "one China" policy. The Office of the President issued the following statement in response:
The president feels that the use of "mainland China," "the mainland area," or "the mainland" by Taiwan’s public servants in referring to the other side of the Taiwan Strait is not an effort to curry favor with the other side. Rather, this usage stems from amendments to the ROC Constitution designating the other side of the Taiwan Strait as "the mainland area of the ROC." This has been the case since former President Lee Teng-hui engineered constitutional amendments in 1991. Over the past 20 years, the designation of the other side of the Taiwan Strait has not changed even despite eight years of rule by the Democratic Progressive Party. This designation not only does not belittle the ROC's sovereignty, but rather solidifies the sovereignty of the ROC as it stresses the status provided for in the constitution. How can this be construed as toeing the same line as the other side of the Taiwan Strait?
On the other hand, when the government opened Taiwan to investment from mainland China two years ago, it also announced that future deregulation in this regard would be based on the development of cross-strait relations. Over the past two years, only more than US$100 million of funds from mainland China has been invested here, and only some 80 managers from the mainland have come to Taiwan. However, over 3,000 jobs have been created as a result. Early this year the Ministry of Economic Affairs commenced examining the possibility of further opening the door to mainland Chinese investment. This, however, has absolutely nothing to do with the visit by Mr. Chen Yunlin.
Since the president took office, his administration has adopted, under the framework of the ROC Constitution, a policy of "no unification, no independence, and no use of force" to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. In addition, the policy of "one China, respective interpretations" has served as the foundation from which to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations. In carrying this out, the government has also adopted the policy of "putting Taiwan first for the benefit of the people," "addressing economic matters before political ones," "addressing easy matters before difficult ones," and "addressing urgent matters before non-urgent ones." These policies have helped to effectively alleviate cross-strait tensions, while promoting peace in the Taiwan Strait. This initiative has also been viewed favorably both at home and abroad. In particular, in January of this year US President Barack Obama made the most representative remarks by publicly welcoming the development of cross-strait relations.
President Ma of course sees that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have different opinions on the topics of freedom, democracy, human rights, and greater participation in the international community by Taiwan. The government has maintained a consistent stance on these issues and it has never sacrificed the nation's sovereignty or Taiwan's dignity. We earnestly hope that society will have a balanced view of the president's cross-strait policy. When the president calls for expanded cross-strait exchanges and investment, he also continues his call on the mainland authorities to improve the status of human rights there, treat its dissidents better, and promote political reforms that will ensure human rights and rule of law. The mainland's performance in this regard will serve as an important indicator in the closeness of cross-strait relations.
The Democratic Progressive Party was in power for eight years and adopted a closed-door policy and a scorched earth foreign policy, both of which caused cross-strait relations to become bogged down. This is in distinct contrast to the current state of affairs between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait in which a "win-win" situation has unfolded. The president is confident that the public and the international community can clearly see this difference. The president sincerely hopes that various media sources will understand the facts and will fulfill their responsibility, instead of continuing to resort to rigid ideology, providing misleading reports, and generating unnecessary social discord.