The coming year carries high risks for the situation across the
Taiwan Straits, as it is an election year for China's Taiwan
Province, but the trends of peace and development in cross-straits
relations are expected to persist.
This was the conclusion of a group of Mainland experts and
scholars who attended Tuesday's workshop in Beijing, the "2007
Workshop on Retrospect and Prospect of Taiwan's Political Situation
and Cross-Straits Relations."
In 2007, although the cross-straits situation has been
complicated, the trends of peace and development in cross-straits
relations were protected and strengthened, owing to the appropriate
method of handling relevant matters by the Mainland, the experts
held.
Wang Zaixi, vice chairman of the Mainland's Association for
Relations across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), delivered a key-note
speech.
The Mainland has achieved a lot in maintaining peace and
stability across the straits and confused the "time-table" of the
so-called "constitutional reform" by Chen Shui-bian, who has failed
to work out a "new constitution".
Subsequently, Chen turned to promoting the so-called "referendum
on joining the United Nations", which has also met with
wide-ranging opposition in Taiwan and international community, Wang
said.
Until May 2008, Taiwan's political situation would become more
complicated, Wang said. "Anything may happen," he said. "The
cross-straits situation is still in a period of great danger."
Wang called it "the most important and urgent task for the
Chinese people living on both sides of the Taiwan Straits" to
oppose secessionist activities and keep them within limits,
especially those of "Taiwan's nomological independence", and oppose
Taiwan authorities' "referendum on joining the United Nations".
The participants agreed that in 2007, the international
community's efforts to consolidate the One-China Policy have been
fortified with the participation of the United States and the
European Union, which further suppressed the space of "Taiwan's
independence" on the international arena.
(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2007)