China to allow Taiwan's KMT to establish mainland office: report

Yahoo ^ | September 10 | AFP

[super175]

BEIJING, Sept 10 (AFP) - China has asked Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) to set up an office on the mainland to assist business exchanges, in a further sign of warming between the communist authorities and their former civil war foes, a Chinese-based website reported Monday.

Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen asked the Taiwanese party whether it wanted to open a "service centre" on Friday in talks with KMT legislator Chu Feng-chih, the Yangcheng Evening News said on its website.

The move was aimed at providing business services for people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, said the paper, based in southern China's Guangdong province.

If true, the offer would mark the first time the KMT has been allowed a foothold on the mainland since the nationalist army fled for Taiwan in 1949 after being defeated by Mao Zedong's communist forces in the civil war.

Officials at the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office and the semi-official Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) in Beijing refused to confirm or deny the report when contacted by AFP.

According to Chu, the mainland agreed to the plan because of a lack of progress in talks between Taipei's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation and ARATS, the report said.

Qian was cited as saying Beijing still needed to consider whether the KMT's Mainland Working Committee should be allowed to establish a centre in China, the report said.

Qian reportedly said the mainland would prefer the service center be run by a KMT enterprise.

China has expressed growing frustration since Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian ended 50-years of KMT rule and came to power last year on a largely pro-independence platform.

Beijing, which claims to be the sole legitimate government of all of China, including Taiwan, has since Chen's inauguration sought to boost its ties with KMT businesses, in hopes of the party's political revival.

The KMT continues to largely favor some sort of reunification with the mainland and reached an agreement in 1991 with the mainland on Beijing's "one China principle", a position Chen has spurned.

China has refused to renounce the use of force to achieve an eventual reunification with Taiwan and has threatened military action if Taiwan should ever formally declare independence.

[super175]

There is a fundamental problem with the 'One China' principle, and it does not just involve Taiwan or the CCP. It involves Tibet, and other places and people too.

If the KMT tried to administer a 'One China' in the same way the CCP does, there would still be massive problems with it.

"One China" can only be truly realized once the political forces recoginizes diversity among all the people. Not only shall they have to recognize diversity, but respect it, and respect the differences of opinion.

A republican form of government with representatives directly from the people all operating under the idea of 'one government' is the only way that could ever work, no matter who is trying to do it.

"One China" has to recognize a diverse China and allow diversity to take its course.

Local autonomy, elected democratic leadership (with no ideological limits on what they believe), and freedom of public debate and intelect is the only way to satisfy reality.

[super175]

Guys like the Dalai Lama would have to be able to have a seat in Congress and Congress listen to and make principled decisions that everyone agrees to.

Also dictating from the top down never works.

[TigerLikesRooster]

So KMT comes to the aid of PRC. And PRC reciprocates. Mr.Chen Sui-Bian, are you going let these guys run around free ? Think about all tips or advice they can give to Beijing !

[norton]

Flash!
That te PRC would even openly consider a KMT representation on it's shores means that this has gone much farther than we were aware of.
If this report is true, whether for good or ill, the mainland and Taiwan have gone a long, long, way if the two old parties are even willing to share a small piece of ground.

[TigerLikesRooster]

RE #5 This is not between China and Taiwan, but between China and KMT(Kuomintang) faction of Taiwan. China and KMT advocate "One China" policy.

[tallhappy]

China and KMT advocate "One China" policy.

KMT have no idea what they advocate anymore.

If the KMT react to this with anything else but complete dismissal it is their death.

Why should KMT have to ask the ChiComs for permission.

The KMT's problem is they don't know who they are anymore. They ought to go and do whatever they want in China if they think they are a Chinese party.

They don't need the ChiCom's permission.

[norton]

All of the above - sort of.
The KMT and CCP were organized concurrently, by Soviet advisors, both as revolutionary foils against the west and the war lords.
KMT fielded Chaing, CCP fielded Mao, neither side was highly regarded in defending against the Japanese (stories differ) but they WERE quite willing to go at each other as soon as the chance came about.
CCP won after considerable dissonance from the US, little remaining aid from the Sov's (who might have preferred the Nationalists at least prior to the war), and well before anyone got to enjoy the benefits of victory over Japan.
Having lost, the KMT dropped anchor in Taiwan to the considerable irritation of the locals (never considered themselves chinese in the first place).
The "two chinas" are still at war. One is in the UN, the other is not in the UN - they traded places about 1972.
One runs on a near comedic version of democracy (fist fights not uncommon) while the other clearly does not.
Sometimes it seems the only things in common are hatred of one another and seemingly intractable claims on the same territory .... regardless how dumb or crafty their other actions might be.

It's been a long time since I had any direct involvement but I'll stick with my statement; if the two are talking about any form of representation across the straits they have already gone far beyond what's being stated in public.

[tallhappy]

CCP won after considerable dissonance from the US

More like after massive invasion by the Japanese.

Your comments are OK, but somewhat anachronistic.

Taiwan does not equal KMT.

There really only is one China and one Taiwan, not two Chinas.

Taiwan was never involved in the Chinese Civil war and as a democracy now, this becomes a lot more significant in that there is only one despotic regime pretending there is some sort of on going civil war rather than two.