Mainland Scholar: Empty Talk Stands for NothingTaiwan leader Chen Shui-bian should give up ``Taiwan independence,'' and make public he supports ``one China'', if he has any sincerity to ``learn'' from the Two Kims' Summit early this month which has lessened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.Xu Bodong, a mainland scholar from the National Taiwan Research Centre, in an article which appeared on Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao on Thursday (June 22), said Chen's accepting ``one China'' principle is the prerequisite to talks with mainland officials. At a press conference held on June 20 in Taipei to commemorate 100 days of his ``inauguration,'' Chen Shui-bian claimed that he would take the two leaders of North and South Korea as his role model. He even expressed his ``willingness'' to "revise and make history" by holding similar ``summit'' with Chinese President Jiang Zemin. The posture put on by Mr Chen, ``emotional and touching'' to some, seems to have achieved its targets, Professor Xu Bodong said. However, is Chen really striving for the complete unification of China as he has propagated at the press conference? If he really takes the leaders of the Korean Peninsula as his role model, he should prove this by actions, Xu said. ``He should declare that he is willing to give up independence and embrace one China principle; he should admits he is a Chinese and Taiwan is an integral part of the China, '' the professor said. Just as the mainland has announced on many occasions, Mr Chen Shui-bian is welcome to the mainland, or Chinese President Jiang Zemin or Premier Zhu Rongji is willing to go to Taiwan, for talks on across-Strait relations and reunification, provided Chen toe the line of ``one China, '' he said. In contrast to Korean problems, Taiwan is indeed an issue of different nature, Professor Xu said. Taiwan issue is entirely a domestic issue left over from a civil war, while the Korean situation is the legacy of international agreements after World War II. Even if the south and north of the Korean Peninsula have been sperated as two independent nations with different social systems, neither side has ever denied that it is a member of the Korean nation, their cultures all belong to the same Korean culture, and neither side has stop efforts for the final unification of the peninsula, Xu said. Chen promised at the June 20 press conference that he would ``put on walls'' portraits of two Kims, and ``bear in mind'' their deeds. If he really wants to ``learn something'' from them, what he should learn is how the others resolve their differences and working together for the national unification, Xu wrote. What Mr Chen should bear firmly in mind is the common wishes and interests of all the Chinese people, including those in Taiwan, Xu said. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |