A coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) yesterday announced they will begin soliciting opinions on a peace agreement Taiwan and China are seeking to sign, hoping to roll out a petition on the eve of the second anniversary of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inauguration next year.
Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳), initiator of the campaign and executive director of the Taipei-based Citizen Congress Watch, said that because many NGOs were concerned about the administration’s plan to sign a peace agreement with Beijing, they decided to work together to consolidate opinion from the private sector in three stages.
First, they planned to hold five seminars before the Lunar New Year to discuss the possible pact and present a draft by January.
Starting in February, they will visit political parties and collect opinions from the international community, before hopefully coming to a consensus on the issue.
Finally, they plan to call a meeting in late April to reach a consensus on the content and conditions for signing the accord. They hope to announce it on the eve of Ma’s second anniversary in office in May, he said.
Ho said that while the Ma administration and the Chinese Communist Party have been making aggressive efforts to push for cross-strait detente at a speed faster than one can imagine, many people were worried because so far the negotiation process was not transparent.
“We suspect that both sides will take measures to push the peace agreement by 2012,” he said. “Will it be something signed between two countries under ‘one China,’ or under ‘one country, two systems’? Nobody knows.”
Ho said while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) favors unification with China, the Democratic Progressive Party is vague about its position. Therefore it is important for the private sector to make their voices heard and seek a consensus on such a politically sensitive issue.
“Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) keeps emphasizing the importance of public consensus, but the government has done nothing in this regard,” he said.
“The private sector has been left out of the loop in terms of cross-strait agreements, including the most recent financial memorandum of understanding. We are worried that his promise will become nothing but empty words,” Ho said.
Wu has said that the time was not ripe for both sides to discuss a peace pact.
There is room for discussion only if there is a consensus in Taiwan and if China expresses goodwill to Taiwan, he has said.
Wu also laid down three conditions for such talks: both sides must build more trust and allow Taiwan more international space, China must extend goodwill by removing missiles targeted at Taiwan and China must respect the reality that both sides are governed by two different political entities.
In related news, Straits Exchange Foundation Secretary-General Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) yesterday said that a special zone would be set up for protesters during next month’s high-level cross-strait talks in Taichung City.
He expressed the hope the event would proceed in a safe and dignified manner.
He did not, however, specify the number or location of any zones, but emphasized that demonstrations are a norm in a democracy.
Kao made the remarks after director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Wang Yi (王毅) asked the administration to make efforts to ensure the “safety” of their delegation attending next month’s meeting.
Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin’s (陳雲林) visit to Taiwan last year was marked by chaotic scenes as protesters clashed with police and laid siege to Chen’s hotel in Taipei.
A PLACE TO PROTEST: The secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation said a special zone would be provided for protesters during cross-strait talks in Taichung By Ko Shu-ling STAFF REPORTER Thursday, Nov 26, 2009, Page 3
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AP
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