Taiwan’s president-elect said on Wednesday that democracy would be at the heart of future relations with China after they hit bumps recently over sensitive issues like the forced deportation of Taiwanese suspects from Kenya to the mainland.
Tsai Ing-wen, who will take office on May 20 as the island’s first female president, repeated her vow to maintain the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait that separates the island from the mainland.
“I have said several times in the past that the new government will do whatever we can to sustain the peace and stability of cross-strait ties and make them consistent and predictable,” Tsai said.
“I’ll abide by my promise,” she said while visiting the Mainland Affairs Council, where she served as minister for four years until 2004.
But Tsai also highlighted a policy change when her China-sceptic Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) takes over the government from the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang party.
“What will be different from the past eight years is that the promotion of cross-strait ties will have to be based on the principle of democracy and people’s desires” irregardless of the position of any individual political party, she said.
“Only through this can cross-strait ties be managed over a long period and the maintenance of the status quo be meaningful.” Read More