Taiwanese President seeks to improve cross-strait relations

Producer: Melanie Yip
First broadcast: 20 May 04, Radio Singapore International

In his inauguration speech today, Taiwanese President Chen Shui Bian called for Cross-Strait dialogue to resume.

Mr Chen, who is serving his second term as Taiwan's President, also defended his controversial plans for changes in the country's constitution.

So how would President Chen go about achieving improvements in Cross-Strait relations?

Melanie Yip put this question to Wu Yu-Shan (WYS), Professor of Political Science at the National Taiwan University.

WYS: Well, he did not elaborate on how he's going to achieve the goals he mentioned in his inaugural address. I think he just laid out the principles. I think he made some emotional approach to the leaders across the Taiwan Straits. Basically, he said that the leaders from both sides should adopt a more progressive approach , and China and Taiwan would want to develop their countries into prosperous nations in the world. And so, there is no reason for the two countries to be at loggerheads.

Mr Chen has plans to call for constitutional reforms to pave the way for democracy in Taiwan. But he stopped short of addressing the issue of sovereignty. What are the reasons for this?

WYS: I think he's being very careful not to talk about sovereignty and name change independence because those are taboo areas. He knows that they is controversy surrounding the issue of sovereignty, both domestically and internationally. So he did not want to antagonize anyone. That's why he did not talk specifically on sovereignty, on independence, or unification. I think he totally evaded that part of the political equation.

In one of its harshest statements, Beijing has warned that it will crush any intentions towards Taiwan's independence, even at the expense of its good relations with the United States.

But at the same time, China has spelt out incentives such as direct trade, transport links and increased access to mainland markets. So does this show that China is willing to explore other means to improve Cross-Strait relations?

WYS: I think the intention from Beijing is very clear, that is, if Taiwan wants to go back to the "one China" principle, then everything is okay. But, President Chen Shui-Bian's position is that Taiwan is willing to go into all kinds of cooperation with mainland China, including the three links without any pre-conditions. President Chen has demonstrated great flexibility in saying that the Republic of China, and the People's Republic of China, or Taiwan and China can develop any kind of relationship, as long as the relationship is approved by the population in Taiwan. So Mr Chen has yet to make any fixed statement concerning the state or future of Taiwan. He said that anything is possible and nothing is excluded. So he has made his position as flexible as possible to the domestic society in Taiwan, and the international community.

How will the next four years be for President Chen, in terms of establishing better Cross-Strait relations, and closing the political divide between the people of Taiwan?

WYS: Well, I think he has a formidable job. It will be nice to Taiwan, and to cross-straits relations, and to the international community if he pursues a moderate goal of dialogue with Beijing and not pushing through with his constitutional reforms. That is the focal point, whether he would amend the current constitution of the Republic of China or would he totally annul it and rewrite the constitution. That was not clear in his inaugural speech. If he's just interesting in amending the constitution, then everyone can out up with that. But, suppose he is rewriting the constitution, even if he says that the reason behind rewriting the constitution is to make the government more efficient, people will assume that he is aiming at Taiwan independence. And that would be a disaster.