MOTIVES: The Chinese president discussed finding common ground, but issues with Taiwan could further complicate Beijing’s relationship with the US, an academic said
Taipei Times
Date: Jul 16, 2018
By Chung Li-hua, Huang Chien-hao and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer
If Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) genuinely wants to ease cross-
Former vice president Lien Chan, center, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, in Beijing on Saturday. Photo: CNA
strait tensions, he should talk directly with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), not through an opposition party figure who has long left public service, Taiwanese academics said.
Former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) met with Xi on Saturday.
Xi said that “as long as the coordinates are correctly set in history, the ship carrying the hope of a peaceful cross-strait unification will eventually sail to the side of victory,” while Lien proposed four ideas to improve cross-strait ties, including that both sides “find common ground on the ‘one China’ principle, while maintaining their different opinions on the meaning of ‘one China.’”
Lin Wen-cheng (林文程), a China and Asia-Pacific regional studies professor at National Sun Yat-sen University, said that despite the rhetoric about providing economic benefits to Taiwanese, Xi must be aware that Bejing’s efforts to strong-arm the country — including poaching Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and forcing airlines to call it a part of China — have angered them. [FULL STORY]
