Taipei, April 29 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Monday he looks forward to seeing the normalization of relations across the Taiwan Strait as early as possible. "I have strong hopes that I will be able to normalize relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait," Chen said while meeting with a delegation of young Japanese lawmakers.
Chen told his guests that he has spared no efforts to improve cross-strait relations since he assumed office some two years ago. "I earnestly hope to complete the normalization of cross-strait ties during my term," he said.
Nevertheless, he repeated his opposition to any preconditions for a resumption of the long-stalled cross-strait dialogue. "Neither side should set any preconditions for talks. We should temporarily shelve long-standing political disputes and resume talks so that cross-strait ties can make progress," he said.
Chen further said he hopes mainland China can stop the expansion of its military and refrain from engaging in an arms race and from threatening to use force against Taiwan.
In addition, he said his administration is striving to minimize the adverse impact of the "magnet effect" of the vast mainland market. "We must endeavor to maintain the economic balance between the two sides so that we do not become overly reliant on the mainland market," he said. The Japanese delegation, composed of some 10 members of the lower house of the Japanese Diet, or parliament, is currently on a four-day visit.