KMT eager to push through Beijing deals
The Kuomintang's landslide victory in Taiwan's legislative elections will help it to push through agreements with Beijing soon, no matter who wins the presidential election on March 22, legislators and political analysts say.
KMT legislator Wu Yu-sheng, a key member of presidential candidate Ma Yin-jeou's camp, said the party would propose bills in the legislature for agreements reached between Communist Party general secretary Hu Jintao and KMT honorary chairman Lien Chan in 2005 and 2006. Taiwan's new parliament meets next month.
The main opposition party won 81 seats in the January 12 elections, and the Democratic Progressive Party took 27. The KMT's victory gives it absolute control of the legislature, which was halved to 113 seats for this election.
'Our sweeping victory means the consensuses between the KMT and the Communist Party will reach a significant breakthrough soon,' said Mr Wu, who was re-elected. 'The Democratic Progressive Party cannot hinder us.'
He said promoting mainland tourists to visit the island would be the first item on the agenda, and then the 'three links'. The links cover direct transport, trade and postal ties.
'Of course, we will focus on only the economic and cultural sectors, and avoid touching any cross-strait political issues,' Mr Wu said. 'Too much politics will scare people away and have a negative impact on Mr Ma in the coming presidential election.'
Mr Wu was referring to the '1992 consensus', which was reached by Taipei and Beijing in Hong Kong. It stressed the 'one-China' principle but allowed each side its own interpretation of what 'China' meant.
Other agreements between Mr Hu and Mr Lien in 2005 included easing cross-strait conflicts and building closer economic and cultural ties, including the 'three links', as soon as possible.
At a joint economic forum in 2006, the mainland offered 15 trade incentives to Taiwanese businessmen, including allowing more farm products to be sold on the mainland and allowing mainland travellers to visit.
But despite the KMT's coming control of the legislature, Su Chi, another KMT lawmaker and former chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said perhaps the agreements should wait until Mr Ma won the election.
'Taiwan has been under executive-led political sovereignty, which has limited the influence of the legislature,' said Mr Su, who is one of Mr Ma's key advisers on cross-strait issues. 'Only when the KMT becomes ruling party can everything run more smoothly.'
However, Lin Chung-pin - president of the Taipei-based Foundation on International and Cross-Strait Studies and the MAC's former deputy chairman - said he believed the agreements would be pushed through even if the DPP's Frank Hsieh Chang-ting wins. 'Mr Hsieh would also encourage KMT legislators to propose bills for those agreements,' Mr Lin said. 'On the other hand, I believe he would be glad to see improvement of cross-strait ties because it benefits both his administration and Taiwan's economy.'
Mr Lin agreed, pointing out that Mr Hsieh is different from the current president, Chen Shui-bian.
He said that Mr Hsieh's political character is even more flexible than Mr Ma's. 'Walking too closely to the mainland side is the kiss of death for Mr Ma as it would scare away all the swing voters,' Mr Lin said. 'But for Mr Hsieh, it would help him win more support from the business and cultural sectors.'
