Press Release

Press Release

Source: KMT Culture and Communications Committee

December 24, 2008

During the Central Standing Committee meeting, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung stated that consultations between our Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) of Mainland China were the only officially authorized channel across the Taiwan Strait, and that the SEF was also under supervision of the Legislative Yuan. He said that the cross-Strait economic and culture forum held by the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party would in no way replace the semi-official dialogue. Since the KMT-CCP forum was open and half of the participants from Taiwan were non-KMT members, Wu said that the conclusions of the forum were more representative, paving the way for both organizations to more easily reach agreements in the future. He stressed that although the forum attracted a lot of attention after the KMT returned to power, the party would merely play a supplementary role.

Wu also pointed out that the public and most media reports approved of the KMT’s efforts and the results of the forum. However, he said that he regretted that certain media outlets reported negatively of the event.

Chang Jung-kung, KMT deputy secretary general, said that the communications between the SEF and the ARATS had been suspended for a decade, considerably affecting cross-Strait relations. After President Ma Ying-jeou assumed office in May this year, both organizations immediately returned to the negotiating table. Everyone was glad to see this development, Chang said, adding that the KMT Administration would definitely preserve the consultation system between the two agencies. However, Chang opined that due to their different contents and functions, the KMT-CCP forum would not replace or overlap with the SEF-ARATS talks.

Chang explained that the SEF-ARATS negotiations were the only official channel authorized by the authorities across the Taiwan Strait for consultations and the signing of agreements. In contrast, the KMT-CCP forum was a purely civil exchange of views between two political parties. Therefore, Chang said that both venues of cross-Strait contacts could be pursed simultaneously and mutually benefit each other.

Chang also pointed out that the KMT-CCP forum would not evolve into a situation where “the party is leading the government” as the government had the ultimate power to decide on all policies. However, Chang said that if the forum could improve conditions for the government, it would indeed be beneficial to Taiwan as a whole. Therefore, Chang concluded that the forum was well aware of its own role. He said that the conclusions reached at the four consecutive forums had been called “joint recommendations,” and were only intended for the government’s reference.

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