Taiwan Authorities Urged to Respect History, Reopen Dialogs

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, April 27, 2002

Taiwan Authorities Urged to Respect History, Reopen Dialogs

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Research fellows at the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) made a statement Friday urging the Taiwan authorities to respect history and contribute to the early reopening of cross-Straits dialogs.

Improvement of relations is in the common interest of Chinese compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, the ARATS said in its statement. "Despite differences, the two sides should create conditions to facilitate dialog, reduce conflict and break the political deadlock," it added.

On January 24, Chinese Vice-Premier Qian Qichen once again called for the reopening of dialog and negotiation between the mainland's ARATS and Taiwan's Straits Exchanges Foundation (SEF) in keeping with the consensus reached in 1992.

Qian made the call at a forum commemorating the seventh anniversary of Chinese President Jiang Zemin's eight-point proposal for continued efforts towards the great cause of the reunification of the motherland.

At the forum, Qian praised the "1992 consensus" as "showing political wisdom by dealing with differences appropriately and breaking the deadlock effectively".

"Qian's speech demonstrates the Mainland's sincerity in trying to resume cross-Straits dialog and negotiation," said the ARATS statement. "And Chinese compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits hope the Taiwan authorities will take an earnest, active and practical approach towards the issue on the basis of the '1992 consensus'".

The significance of the "1992 consensus", the statement said, lies in the agreement that the two sides, under the premise of the "one China" principle, should look after each other's interests, seek common ground while allowing differences to exist, establish mutual trust and seek negotiations in a practical way and look to the future.

Since their new leader took office the Taiwan authorities by rejecting the "one China" principle and the "1992 consensus" have made it impossible to resume dialog and negotiations, the statement went on to say that this was the cause of the deadlock and has brought new contradictions and hindrances to the reopening of dialog and negotiations.

Despite improved Sino-U.S. relations and the Taiwan compatriots ' call for better cross-Straits ties, the Taiwan authorities have re-examined the report of the 1992 meeting, reinterpreted its results and even blamed the Chinese mainland for not resuming cross-Straits dialog, it said.

"This shows, once again, that the Taiwan authorities have not ever changed their intention to deny the '1992 consensus' and prevent the resumption of dialog and negotiations," it added.

The ARATS called on the Taiwan authorities to respect history in order to improve their credibility, adding that the resumption of dialog based on the "1992 consensus" will be conducive to cross-Straits stability, the strengthening of ties and will bring economic development and social stability to the island province.

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