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Updated Thursday, December 29, 2011 0:01 am TWN, By Enru Lin ,The China Post



	Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen speaks on the campaign trail in Kinmen County, yesterday. Revisiting her record in the Mainland Affairs Council, Tsai promised comparable progress in the next four years. (CNA) Enlarge Photo

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Bilateral relations to advance, not regress: Tsai

On the campaign trail in Kinmen County, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen vowed that cross-strait relations will not stagnate, not regress, but only advance at the spurs of her administration's “Taiwan Consensus.”

The new DPP administration will continue to create economic transactions with mainland China, Tsai said yesterday morning at Kinmen's Shuitou Wharf (水頭碼頭).

Her attitude toward cross-strait dialogue will be pragmatic, and “cross-strait relations will only continue to advance, and will not stagnate or regress,” she continued.

Committed to the 'Little Three Links'

To firm up the promise, Tsai drew her from her record at the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC, 陸委會) from 2000 to 2004.

As MAC minister, she helped lift the wall barring transactions between the mainland and Taiwan, with the so-called “Little Three Links” (小三通).

The “Little Three Links” of postal services, transportation, and trade across the Taiwan Strait were established in limited form under former President Chen Shui-bian.

Said Tsai, the DPP created the links out of nothing — no precedent and no mutual trust — and was able to lay the groundwork for stable liberalization in the upcoming years.

In Jan. 2001, the first direct freight set sail from Kinmen County. That year Taiwan received some 21,000 tourists.

Between and January and October of this year, tourists to Kinmen County have exceeded 1,200,000.

Tsai said the three links are a critical artery for economic development in Kinmen County, and the DPP remains committed to their development.

'Taiwan Consensus'

Tsai reiterated that cross-strait progress will and can be made on the basis of the “Taiwan Consensus.” She fleshed out details:

The Taiwan Consensus will accommodate the people's majority opinion and will be designed to handle cross-strait relations in the long run.

To mainland China, the Taiwan Consensus will offer good will and a positive outlook.

For Taiwan's people, it will uphold the national principles of “democracy, equality, and peace.”

KMT Unimpressed

Said the Kuomintang (KMT) yesterday, Tsai touts her record on the “Little Three Links,” to suggest she can safeguard bilateral relations. But everybody remembers what cross-strait relations were like with the DPP in power.

Moreover, it was the previous KMT administration that laid the groundwork for the “Little Three Links,” said an anonymous KMT official.

He continued by saying the Chen administration had eight years to add direct flights into the “Little Three Links.” As MAC head, Tsai's performance falls short of expectations.

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Comments

December 29, 2011 golden-hands@

People tend to forget under the eight-year rule of the DDP administration, ties between Taiwan and China continued to grow at a steady rate. Economic ties did not stagnate but continued to grow under the DPP even in the face of China's constant hostile posturing.
This is something KMT should realize instead of constantly trying to claim economic ties between DDP and china came to a complete standstill, because that factually is not true.

December 29, 2011 adel_0606@

What’s wrong with this lady? It doesn't matter who is dealing with China (KMT or DDP).YOU have no other choice, Lady, just like the rest of the world.
Now, Lady! Why do you make it sound like a SELL-OUT when it's been done by MA (SATAN) then when you'll do it yourself? You try to make it sound like a BIG GIFT for Taiwanese people for this coming Chinese new year (SANTA). Stop playing with words and people! ARE YOU SANTA OR SATAN? By the way, lady, Taiwan people's majority opinion is JOBS, STABILITY, SAFETY and NO more B.S.

December 29, 2011 bibotkngo57@

golden-hands@ wrote:
People tend to forget under the eight-year rule of the DDP administration, ties between Taiwan and China continued to grow at a steady rate. Economic ties did not stagnate but continued to grow under the DPP even in the face of China's constant hostile posturing.
This is something KMT should realize instead of constantly trying to claim economic ties between DDP and china came to a complete standstill, because that factually is not true.

The DPP is trying to claim credit for something it did not do. For it was the huge number of business people who were extremely inconvenienced by the lack of direct links that forced the DPP to open up those links. It was the KMT then who laid the groundwork for the mini links. The DPP just sat on it until the pressures mounted. It can be seen from the last presidential election results how business people rejected the DPP.