Former Taiwan negotiator urges restoration of unification guidelines

A former leader of Taiwan's negotiators wants Taiwan to start to use the guidelines for national unification again.

The principles, which guided Taiwan's mainland policies before it was abolished in 2006, should come back into force to fit current cross-Straits relations, Pang Chien-kuo, former vice secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), told Xinhua. The SEF has played a major role in the island's negotiations with the mainland.

The move would enhance political mutual trust in the short term, while helping peaceful unification in the long run, he said.

Endorsed by Taiwan's "National Unification Council" in 1991, the guidelines were abrogated by pro-independence leader Chen Shui-bian. The current Kuomintang leadership make no use of the guidelines or the council.

According to Pang, cross-Straits relations have moved from "reciprocal exchanges" to "mutual trust cooperation" as defined by the unification guidelines.

The mainland demonstrated its goodwill in the meeting between the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office head Zhang Zhijun and Taiwan's mainland affairs chief Wang Yu-chi and the onus is now on Taiwan to take the initiative, he said.

"Restoration of the guidelines and the council would be an important demonstration of Taiwan's goodwill. It will enhance mutual trust and create favorable conditions for the leaders of the two sides to meet," Pang said.