Tsai calls on Xi to take less hardline stance on cross-strait ties

TAIPEI — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has expressed hopes that Chinese President Xi Jinping will take a less hardline stance on relations with the self-ruled island in what is seen as an attempt to reach out to Beijing’s leadership.

In an interview with the Washington Post published Thursday where she was asked about her opinion of Mr Xi, Ms Tsai said while she appreciates his courage in tackling corruption in China, she also “looks forward to him showing a bit more flexibility in dealing with cross-strait relations”.

“I hope that he can appreciate that Taiwan is a democratic society in which the leader has to follow the will of the people,” she said.

The interview with Washington Post was Ms Tsai’s first with a foreign news outlet since taking office in May.

Relations between China and Taiwan have cooled rapidly under Ms Tsai.

Ms Tsai and the Democratic Progressive Party, which distrusts Beijing and traditionally supports independence for Taiwan, took over the reins of government on May 20 from the more China-friendly Kuomintang, which had held power for eight years.

China has regarded Taiwan as a wayward province, to be taken by force if necessary, ever since defeated Nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949 after a civil war with China’s communists.

Ms Tsai has promised a more cautious approach to China than her predecessor, sparking Beijing’s ire.

During the interview with Washington Post, Ms Tsai was also asked about her views on the 1992 Consensus — which she has so far refused to endorse — to which she said that “it isn’t likely that the government of Taiwan will accept a deadline for conditions that are against the will of the people”.

The 1992 Consensus is an agreement where both Taipei and Beijing agree that there is only one China, with each having its own interpretation of what that means.

On its microblogging website yesterday, the Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, citing a Chinese expert, interpreted Ms Tsai’s comment as being her first clear rejection of the “1992 consensus”.

Chinese officials have previously indicated they want Ms Tsai to accept the so-called 1992 Consensus although she has stopped short of doing so.

Instead, Ms Tsai had said she recognised the “1992 talks,” at which both sides “arrived at various joint acknowledgements and understandings” in a spirit of “a political attitude of seeking common ground while setting aside differences.”

Last month, China suspended communications with Taiwan following the island’s new government failure to acknowledge the concept that there is only “one China”.

Ms Tsai also said in her interview with the Washington Post that despite the suspension, there remained “diverse channels of communication across the strait” including people-to-people contact.

“There are differences between the positions of the two sides of the strait. In Taiwan, we have done our best to minimise that gap. I believe that the Chinese realise the goodwill we have put forth at the inauguration,” she said.

While China could easily lure away Taiwan’s diplomatic allies if it chose to, Ms Tsai said: “If they do take economic measures to apply pressure to Taiwan, they will have to think about the price that they are going to pay. Because the surrounding countries will be looking very carefully at what measures China will take against Taiwan.” KYODO NEWS