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Updated Saturday, June 11, 2011 11:25 pm TWN, CNA

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DPP to seek dialogue with China: party head

LONDON -- The chairwoman of Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday in England that the party will adopt a more proactive attitude in conducting dialogue with China but will never accept the “one China” principle.

Speaking at a conference at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, Tsai said the DPP had recovered from defeat in the 2008 presidential election by engaging in the transformation of the pro-independence party.

One of the reforms was to establish a think tank, the Security and Strategy Research Center, to get Beijing to better understand the DPP and increase its dialogue with the party to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings between the two sides.

Tsai, recently selected as the DPP's nominee in the 2012 presidential election, stressed, however, that the DPP could not accept the request by China's government to accept the “one-China” principle as doing so would sacrifice Taiwan's democracy.

At the same time, Tsai argued that peace in the Asia-Pacific region could not be achieved without stable cross-strait ties and that Taiwan was obligated to the international community to maintain cross-strait peace and stability.

In the economic arena, Tsai pledged to sustain Taiwan's trade and economic relations with China and to boost links within the World Trade Organization framework while also allowing the Legislature to review agreements already signed by Taiwan and China.

Tsai arrived in London Wednesday after concluding a three-day visit in Germany, accompanied by DPP spokesman Chen Chi-Mai.

Her entourage also includes Shieh Jhy-wey, the head of the Government Information Office in 2007 and 2008 when the DPP was in power and now a political talk show host, and Hsiao Bi-khim, the deputy executive in chief of the DPP's new think tank.

During the conference in London, the politician invited British scholars to visit Taiwan to study the presidential election in January 2012, in which she expected a tight battle against the incumbent, President Ma Ying-jeou.

Tsai would be Taiwan's first female president if she were to beat Ma in the election.

Tasi will fly home Friday after visiting the UK parliament.

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