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Updated Thursday, February 9, 2012 0:06 am TWN, The China Post news staff with CNA

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Existing cross-strait accords can be considered part of peace pact: Ma

The China Post news staff with CNA--All 16 agreements signed between Taiwan and China since 2008 can be seen as part of a broadly defined cross-strait peace agreement, President Ma Ying-jeou said yesterday.

Ma made the remark after hearing a report at a meeting of the ruling Kuomintang Central Standing Committee by Professor Lin Tzu-chia of National Chengchi University on “the golden decade and the prospects of Taiwan's economic development.”

Lin said a cross-strait peace agreement, an idea floated by the president during the election campaign that ended on Jan. 14 with his re-election, would be neither an agreement of “peaceful unification” nor of “peaceful independence” involving the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, said the government hopes to institutionalize the peaceful status quo in the Taiwan Strait. However, more discussion is required to decide how best to do so, he added.

He reiterated his “three conditions” for signing a peace pact with mainland China — national needs, public support and parliamentary supervision, with public support to be expressed through a referendum.

“It means a national consensus will be forged through such a referendum,” he said.

But even without a peace accord, Ma said, “we have other means to achieve its purpose that will institutionalize the cross-strait status quo of peaceful development.”

He said each of the 16 agreements signed between Taipei and Beijing since he took office in 2008 can be seen as a “broadly defined” peace accord.

Investment Protection Talks Near Conclusion: MAC Official

An outgoing vice minister of the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday that negotiation on the signing of a cross-strait investment protection agreement has neared completion.

Chao Chien-min, who will step down next week after completing a four-year term as vice minister of the MAC, made the remark when speaking at a seminar among youth leaders across the Taiwan Strait.

Chao said that President Ma Ying-jeou's mainland affairs policies are moving in the right direction, using exchanges, dialogues and negotiations to replace confrontation.

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