President Ma Ying-jeou remains resolute in pursuing a policy of "no unification, no independence and no use of force" to handle cross-Taiwan Strait ties over the next four years, Presidential Office spokesman Wang Yu-chi said Monday. According to Wang, Ma has not deviated from the "three noes" promise he made during the presidential election campaign to help maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and has no intention of doing so.
Wang made the remarks after a local newspaper reported earlier the same day that John C. Kuan, a vice chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) , said on a trip to China's central Hubei Province last week that "peaceful unification between Taiwan and China would take place naturally if the KMT were able to govern in Taiwan over the long term."
After Kuan adamantly denied the report, Wang said inaccurate reports have caused great trouble to the parties concerned in the past, and insisted Ma's stance on the issue had not changed.
Kuan repeatedly denied Monday that he had made the comments cited in the Liberty Times report, which said its information came from the Hong Kong-based Chinese-language daily Wen Hui Bao.
The KMT vice chairman criticized the Liberty Times for failing to check the facts with him before printing the story and demanded that both newspapers print corrections.
"Now that China has also agreed to put aside cross-strait disputes, why should I talk about unification or independence in China," he said in answering reporters' questions.
"As KMT vice chairman, I am fully aware of my standing and am always very careful with my words," he said.
Meanwhile, opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen voiced concern at a DPP coordination meeting that Ma's administration is leaning too much toward China, putting Taiwan's national security at risk.
Tsai was quoted as saying that Ma's national security team has lost its sense of balance by putting all its bargaining chips on its broad opening to China while overlooking Taiwan's national security needs and the importance of further exploring other foreign relations, in particular those with the United States.
Tsai also asked DPP officials to keep a close watch on the impact of several major activities on Taiwan's people, such as the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and a planned visit by China's top negotiator to Taiwan later this year.
The DPP must be on top of these major events and explore possible development strategies to better manage cross-strait affairs, according to Tsai.
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