Lien plans foundation for peace with China

Lien, who stepped down in August to make way for newly-elected Kuomintang chairman Ma Ying-jeou, plans to use the foundation to implement the agreements he reached with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Lien’s meeting with Hu earliest this year was the first meeting between KMT and Chinese Communist Party leaders in over half a century. The summit was held during his landmark visit to China earlier this year.

Lien, who is now an honorary chairman of the KMT, will take on the foundation in addition to his chairmanship of a KMT think tank.

The deputy administrative head of the party’s policy committee Chang Jung-kung said one role of the think tank was to form a platform for party-to-party communication between the KMT and CCP. But the new foundation would also be a fresh force in cross=strait relations and communications, he said.

Chang would not give any further details on Lien’s new foundation such as when party authorities would formally apply with the government to set it up.

Sources said the KMT and its think tank were strapped for cash, with the pro-independence government demanding that the opposition party clarify the nature of its assets and return illegally appropriated assets back to the state.

Lien wanted to set up the foundation independently of the party, with the interest from the foundation’s funds used to promote relations with China.

In related reports, the KMT’s ally, the minority People First Party plans to hold a forum in Shanghai called “cross-strait talents” on economic issues in mid-September.

The KMT also intends to hold a forum on economic issues with China by the end of the year at the earliest but details including the venue and invitees are still to be determined.

PFP secretary general Chin Chin-sheng, its policy center director Chang Hsian-yao and legislative council convener Daniel Huang are currently in Beijing finalizing the details of their party’s forum.

The four topics at the PFP forum are likely to be: economic strategic development and the role of China-based Taiwan business executives, issues involved in promoting direct air links, issues relating to cross-strait agricultural exchanges and cooperation and the normalization of trade ties between Taiwan and China.

Chang said the forum would not cover any sensitive political topics.

“We hope that our “talents forum” can serve as a platform for cross-strait communication to supplement the lack of direct communication between the two sides’ (governments)” he said.

He said 60 Chinese scholars and 30 to 40 Taiwan scholars would participate in the forum.

The PFP intends to make the forum a regular event, possibly each quarter. The forum is also intended to deal with problems faced by China-based Taiwan business people such as legal issues. The PFP has also suggested that China set up an arbitration mechanism to help Taiwan business executives resolve disputes.

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