Taiwan Authorities Should Recognize One-China Principle: ExpertsThe new leader of the Taiwan authorities should size up the present situation across the Taiwan straits, go with the flow of history and recognize the one-China principle as soon as possible, Beijing-based experts on Taiwan affairs said Friday in Beijing.They also noted that Taiwan's new leader should place the fundamental interests of the Taiwan people above all else and abandon his "Taiwan independence" stand so that the relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits will become hopeful after all the recent twists and turns. In his written speech presented to a forum in Beijing on the cross-Straits relations, Li Yafei, deputy secretary-general of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), said that a recent official statement makes clear the mainland's stance on the cross-straits relations. The statement, which was issued jointly on authorization of the Taiwan Work Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, also suggests ways to improve cross-Straits relations. The sooner the Taiwan authorities accept the one-China principle, the sooner the cross-Straits relations will improve. Otherwise, the relations will remain strained, Li said. Yu Keli, deputy director of the Taiwan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said that he didn't see any goodwill or sincerity in the Taiwan's new leader's speech. In his speech, the new leader of Taiwan didn't mention the fact that he is a Chinese, failed to recognize the one-China principle and made no gestures toward reunification of the Chinese nation. If the Taiwan authorities are sincere about easing the cross- Straits relations, they should accept the one-China principle, Yu said, adding that the statement offers the best way to break the stalemate in the cross-Straits relations. Researcher Xin Qi at the Peace and Development Studies Center held that in his speech, the Taiwan new leader used beautiful words and scholarly rhetoric, which, however, failed to disguise his true position. If the Taiwan new leader believes that he can relegate the issue to the future or to foreign forces and the international community, the results will be disastrous, Xin said. Li Jiaquan, a researcher at the Taiwan Research Institute of the CASS, said that in the speech, the Taiwan new leader mentioned the word "Taiwan" about 40 times, but made no mention of China, illustrating that he didn't view China as the motherland. If the new leader continues to stand by the notion of "Taiwan independence" and positions himself at odds with the entire Chinese nation, he cannot expect a bright future, the scholar warned. Participants at the forum also noted that the one-China principle is the prerequisite for the development of the cross- Straits relations and the peaceful reunification of the motherland. The Chinese people, including the Taiwan compatriots, will never allow any form of "Taiwan independence," the participants said, adding that if the Taiwan authorities were serious about improving the cross-Straits relations, they should accept the one- China principle and take substantial steps to promote the relations. |
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