'Three Exchanges' An Inexorable TrendWang Fuqing, deputy director of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, Tuesday pointed out in Fuzhou that the course of cross-Strait exchanges and personnel contacts over the past two decades has proved that the two sides of the Straits have strong complementary features.The direct "three exchanges" (exchange of mails, trade and air and shipping services) is in keeping with the demand of the objective law and the common interests of the compatriots across the Straits. It is an inexorable trend of the development of the cross-Straits relationship. Wang Fuqing made the remarks in his speech given at the "Academic Symposium on the History of Cross-Straits Sea Traffic" held in Quanzhou. Wang said that we have always been standing for the vigorous promotion of exchanges and personnel contacts across the Straits and have made unremitting efforts for this end: we have enacted a series of laws and regulations and have thus formed a legal system to protect the lawful rights and interests of Taiwan compatriots in China's mainland; we have adopted a series of polices to encourage Taiwan compatriots to invest in the mainland, thus giving a great boost to the exchanges between the two sides. Wang said that we advocate realizing the "three exchanges" in accordance with the principles of "one China, direct and two-way, and mutual benefits " and for this we have done a lot of preparatory work.. As long as the Taiwan authorities acknowledge the one-China principle, the source of the tension between the two sides of the Straits can be readily removed, and both sides can start dialogs and negotiations on politics, economy, "three exchanges" and all other issues of concern to Taiwan. Wang emphasized that no matter what problems are taken up for talk, the Taiwan authorities must keep faith. If they deny even such fact as the '1992 Consensus', how can they win the people's confidence and make others believe in their "sincerity" or "goodwill"? We noticed recently, Wang said, that the Taiwan people's strong appeal for relaxing the "No Haste, Be Patient" policy and quickening the "three exchanges" has aroused great concerns within the Island. What kind of actual measures or actions will Taiwan authorities take toward these propositions and aspirations remain to be observed. Wang pointed out that the "three exchanges" could be soon realized through the consultations between people-to-people, between industries and between companies as long as this issue is regarded as an internal affair of China. Meanwhile, on the basis of adhering to the "one China" policy, take the happiness of the people of the two sides as the aim, we will continue to improve and develop the cross-Straits relationship and expand personnel contacts and economic and cultural exchanges across the Straits. In his speech Wang also expressed his concern with the current economic situation in Taiwan. From the bottom of his heart, he wished that Taiwan would be able to restore its economic prosperity as early as possible and guarantee the good health and happiness of Taiwan people. By PD Online staff member Du Minghua |
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