Taiwan authorities urged to grasp opportunity of reopening dialogues
( 2002-01-25 09:55 ) (8 )

China's leading national newspaper, People's Daily, urges the leader of the Taiwan authorities not to misjudge the situation and let the opportunity of reopening cross-Straits dialogues slip by.

The newspaper makes the appeal in an editorial to be published Friday, marking the seventh anniversary of Chinese President Jiang Zemin's eight-point proposal for developing cross-Straits relations and promoting the reunification of the motherland.

The two sides of the Taiwan Straits may reopen dialogue and negotiations so long as the leader of the Taiwan authorities takes serious and positive moves to recognize the "1992 Consensus," says the editorial.

The consensus refers to the common understanding reached in 1992 between the Chinese mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan's Straits Exchanges Foundation, whereby both sides of the Taiwan Straits expressed adherence to the one-China principle.

The editorial blames the failure of the leader of the Taiwan authorities to accept the one-China principle and "the 1992 Consensus" for the deadlock in the cross-Straits ties and the unstable situation across the Taiwan Straits.

"We have always been committed to striving for the resumption of cross-Straits dialogues and negotiations on the basis of the one-China principle with the maximum sincerity and flexibility," the editorial says.

There is only one China in the world. The Chinese mainland and Taiwan are part of China, and China's sovereignty and territorial integrity can not be separated, it says.

The broad masses of the Democratic Progress Party members are welcome to visit the mainland in appropriate capacities, as they are quite different from a handful of "pro-independence" diehards in Taiwan.

The editorial says that realizing peaceful reunification and practicing the "one country, two systems" policy can avoid the catastrophe of a war provoked by the pro-independence splittists in Taiwan and ensure lasting peace.

The "one country, two systems" policy, originally initiated for solving the Taiwan issue, has proved successful in Hong Kong and Macao.

The editorial reiterates that the Chinese mainland is willing to introduce more flexible policies toward Taiwan within the framework of "one country, two systems."