CCTV reporter interviews Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan
cctv.com 05-04-2005 12:10
Before Lien Chan departure from the mainland, the Kuomintang Chairman spoke with CCTV on his feelings about the visit.
Q: Chairman Lien, you have just wound up your trip to the mainland; what are your feelings on this visit?
A: It would be hard to summarize the trip in only a few words. The four places I've visited all have different meaning to me. In Nanjing, I paid homage to Dr Sun Yat-Sen, the founding father of the Kuomintang Party. It was the first time in 56 years that we've been able to do this. In Beijing, I had in-depth talks with Hu Jintao, the General-Secretary of the Communist party of China Central Committee, and Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. We issued a joint communique, which says that the CPC and the Kuomintang agree to work together to promote cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation in five areas. There was also the announcement of decisions on three issues this morning. As such, the visit to Beijing has had very practical results. The trip to Xi'an meant a lot to me personally, because I was born there, and my grandmother is buried there. It's been 60 years since I was there and it was an emotional homecoming for me. Yesterday, I arrived in Shanghai. The city has changed a lot and is very different from what I remember. The mainland has made huge progress since I left. I was given a warm welcome by the young students, businesspeople, and ordinary people here, which moved me deeply."
Q: As we all know, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the Strait Exchange Foundation reached the "1992 consensus". But in recent years, the Democratic Progressive Party has repeatedly rejected the consensus. As the KMT chairman, what's your opinion on this?
A: We held talks in Hong Kong in 1992 ahead of the Wang-Koo meeting. The KMT was then devoting itself to reaching the "1992 consensus". It is the principle we have been sticking to. The "1992 consensus" means the two sides may have their own interpretation as long as we stay within the "One China" framework. It was according to this principle that the Wang-Koo meeting was held in Singapore. I visited Mr. Wang yesterday. It was a moment that opened a new page of peaceful exchanges in history. After that, cross-straits relations saw a major breakthrough. On the one hand, we loosened the deadlock of the past 40 years. On the other hand, there has been rapid growth in cultural and trade exchanges across the straits and problem-solving mechanisms. If I'm not mistaken, there were 27 rounds of talks held during that period. There would not be so much tension now if that trend were continued. It was a great pity the trend only lasted for around 8 to 9 years. But in the past ten years, this trend has been reversed, and that's what the KMT is concerned about. We believe that cross-straits cooperation, mutual existence, and co-existence for a win-win situation are in the interests of both sides. In cooperation, we rely on each other, benefit each other and we are complementary. As I have said before, cooperation will win us a bigger market, the biggest market. I will not go into details, as the proof is everywhere. That is what we are working for.
Q: You were very warmly received during your mainland visit. What kind of future role do you see the KMT playing in the cross-straits relations?
A: The KMT has been clear with its mainland policy since the 1980's. That is, for the two sides to push forward for mutually beneficial, prosperous and win-win relations on a stable and peaceful basis. In fact, it was the KMT that signed an agreement with the mainland allowing Taiwan residents to look for their relatives there. It was also the KMT that pushed for the meeting in 1992, 1993 and in Shanghai in 1998. The KMT has also been pushing for basic principles, and a framework for cross-straits relations and policies. We have stuck to that and have never changed.
Editor:Wang Source:CCTV.com
