Lien-Hu talks get mixed reception in Taiwan

Lien-Hu talks get mixed reception in Taiwan

Baker Li, Reuters/Taipei

Taiwan opposition leader Lien Chan's landmark meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao won mixed reviews at home on Saturday, with some newspapers praising his peace effort and others accusing Lien of selling out Taiwan.

The mainland press, meanwhile, hailed Friday's encounter in Beijing as a "major step", but said the six-decade-long China- Taiwan conflict was far from resolved. The Xinhua news agency said the meeting had been hailed worldwide.

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) quickly rejected the assertion there had been any improvement in China ties, saying that Lien, leader of the Kuomintang (KMT), had merely strengthened the hand of Taiwan's military rival.

Lien's KMT and the Chinese Communist Party ended decades of enmity on Friday with a groundbreaking meeting in Beijing's Great Hall of the People -- photographs of which were splashed across the front pages of all the island's major dailies.

The civil war enemies agreed to avoid military conflict in the Taiwan Strait, one of Asia's most dangerous flashpoints, and to facilitate the resumption of dialog stalled since 1999.

Lien "sang the notes of peace all the way up to the clouds", said the mass-circulation China Times in an editorial. "This means there will be a new round of competition and cooperation in cross-strait relations under the theme of peace."

A commentary in the mainland Beijing News, however, made clear that real progress towards peace with self-ruled Taiwan, over which China claims sovereignty, depended on government-level talks, meaning involvement of Chen and the ruling DPP.

"Only if the two sides can resume talks, negotiate the formal end of hostilities and sign a peace agreement will the conditions be ripe for lasting peace and stability," the daily said. Lien was the first KMT (Nationalist Party) leader to set foot in China since the KMT mainland government was toppled by Mao Zedong's Communist armies and fled to Taiwan in 1949.

His party supports eventual unification with a democratic China.

While Lien said he was on a "journey of peace" to improve relations, he came under fire at home for kowtowing to Beijing so soon after it enacted an anti-secession law, which sanctioned war against Taiwan -- officially the Republic of China -- if it pushed for formal statehood.

"We had not expected Lien Chan to speak for the Republic of China, or Taiwan, after he returned to the motherland. But surprisingly, he wanted to sell out the Republic of China and Taiwan together," said the pro-independence Liberty Times.

"Establishing a communication platform between the Republic of China and Communist China underlines the fact that he joins hands with the communists," the editorial said.

The DPP accused Lien of helping China's divide-and-conquer strategy. Beijing refuses to deal with Chen's government and is trying to isolate him by engaging opposition politicians.

"The biggest regret is that the KMT went to China but did not express Taiwan people's dislike of the anti-secession law," said DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang. "They did a big favor for Hu Jintao by helping to reduce the pressure against the anti-secession law, and achieved the goal of dividing Taiwan."

At Friday's talks, Lien and Hu agreed to discuss a common market, increase and guarantee investment and trade across the Strait and smooth exports of Taiwan farm produce to China. Some commentators said the onus was now on Chen to follow through.

"It is not appropriate for President Chen to veto or give negative judgment like his past reactions. If his words go too far or are unpleasant to hear, it will take a longer time to go back to the path in the future," the United Daily News said.

But Premier Frank Hsieh said opposition parties should let the government handle China policy, criticizing the KMT for reaching a consensus with Beijing so quickly while holding up domestic policies in the opposition-controlled parliament.

"I think they managed to reach a consensus in four or five minutes," Hsieh said of the Lien-Hu meeting. "But in our Legislative Yuan, the budget takes four or five months, and there are other public works still pending."

Lien left Beijing on Saturday for Xian, a former imperial capital southwest of Beijing where he was born and his grandmother is buried. He flies on Sunday to Shanghai, the last stop on his mainland tour.