Taiwan president promises referendum on a China peace pact

Oct 20, 2011, 7:30 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said Thursday that he would seek the approval of Taiwan's citizens in a referendum before negotiating a peace accord with China in the next decade.

'If we do not have domestic consensus, we will not sign,' he said.

His statement came three days after he first said that he would like to sign a peace pact with China within 10 years as part of his 'Golden Decade' campaign platform.

Since that announcement, Taiwan officials have offered some broad hints on how they would approach such a pact.

The president's spokesman said late Wednesday that the administration would seek public support for a peace process, after which negotiations would be closely monitored by the legislature.

However, one of the first demands is for China to remove the 1,600 missiles that it has aimed at Taiwan, Lai Shin-yuan, Taiwan's policy chief for China, said Tuesday.

Ma's referendum proposal came in response to accusations from the opposition that the ruling Nationalist Party is seeking closer ties with China unilaterally. The opposition presidential candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, has criticized Ma for negotiating a trade agreement with China in 2010 without seeking support for such negotiations among voters.

Charges that Ma wants Taiwan to reunite with China have also surfaced.

During his press conference Thursday, Ma sought to dispel the impression that his party wants to seek peace with China within a 10-year timeframe.

'I simply believe that Taiwan must face this [China] question in the next decade,' he said.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war when the Nationalist Party retreated from the mainland to the island territory. They remain technically at war.

Taiwan officials have vigorously denied that a peace accord would lead to reunification with China. They contend that the government only wants to end the state of war.

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