Hopes grow as second Taiwan leader visits China (original) (raw)
This was published 19 years ago
China's top communist leader, President Hu Jintao, yesterday met a second opposition party chief from Taiwan, continuing a peace offensive that may reduce support for the island's independence-leaning Government.
The success of Beijing's manoeuvre will be tested tomorrow in a vote on Taiwan to form a special temporary national assembly to pass reforms streamlining the island's constitution. The ballot may become a virtual referendum on President Chen Shui-bian and his controversial policies promoting a separate identity for Taiwan from China and sometimes inching close to outright declarations of independence.
Worried about losing the island it sees as an integral part of historical China, despite its political separation since 1949 when it became a refuge for defeated Chinese nationalists, Beijing rammed through a tough "anti-secession law" in March but has since tried to soften its approach.
James Soong, leader of the People's First Party in Taiwan, met Mr Hu yesterday in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, in the footsteps of Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) leader Lien Chan, who last month became the first KMT head to meet a Chinese Communist Party counterpart since 1945.
Both are acceptable in Beijing because as Chinese nationalists - Mr Soong's group is a KMT splinter - they support the idea of "one China" that includes Taiwan, but they are not pushing for any immediate reunification.
Mr Soong, even more than Mr Lien, has made his mainland visit during the past week a celebration of "Chinese-ness", bowing at the tomb of the mythical founder of the nation in Xi'an, declaring: "We are all sons of the Yellow Emperor," and meeting long-lost relatives in his family's home province, Hunan.
Opinion polls in Taiwan have shown moderate support for the visits, for easing tensions with the communists. Mr Chen has seemed uncertain how to play the visits, giving moderate praise to some aspects and letting spokesmen make harsher criticism.
President Chen had asked Mr Soong to convey a personal message when he met Mr Hu yesterday.
The US Government has said it hopes the two leaders will also meet, but so far Beijing has said Mr Chen's party would first have to remove a pro-independence clause from its constitution and back the idea of "one China".
Mr Hu yesterday stressed, in the open part of their meeting that was televised live, that talks had to be based on the "one China" principle and a 1992 "consensus" that allowed some flexibility about how this was interpreted by either side. "Whatever party, and whatever it has said before, we will talk to them (on this basis)," Mr Hu said.
Whether Mr Chen has been cornered by the mainland manoeuvres may be seen in the turnout on Saturday, to choose 300 members of a national assembly required under the existing constitution to make changes that halve the size of the legislature, simplify the complex electoral system and allow the holding of referendums.
The body - a legacy from Taiwan's former dual parliament system - is being formed only for the purpose of voting on the reforms and will be dismantled by the end of the year.
But China policy, not political reform, is dominating the run-up to the poll. As votes are cast for the party, not individual candidates, whichever group wins the most ballots gets an effective endorsement of its approach.
Both the DPP and KMT, the two biggest parties, have thrown their support behind the reforms, which benefit them as the likely winners in a two-party system. Analysts say that they are likely to win the majority needed to ratify the amendments.
- with agencies
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