HOTLINE:In a lengthy statement, the Presidential Office said the proposal to establish a communication channel with China would “set cross-strait ties back 10,000 steps”

Taipei Times
Date:  Jan 04, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The Presidential Office yesterday issued a statement saying Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) proposal to merely establish a communication channel with China would “set cross-strait ties back by 10,000 steps.”

Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) — in a statement that is about 2,000 words long — criticized the policies Tsai mentioned in her closing remarks at Saturday’s televised presidential debate as “preposterous” and “indicative of the DPP chairperson’s unawareness of where and in what year she was in.”

Tsai on Saturday said that she would push for reforms and national unity by establishing four mechanisms, including one that would serve as a communication channel through which Taiwan could forge mutual understanding with China and other nations.

The other three mechanisms would be facilitate cross-party negotiations, industrial adjustments and pension reforms, Tsai said.     [FULL  STORY]