TAIPEI, March 9 Asia Pulse - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou denied in an interview published Tuesday that his policy of opening to China is tantamount to falling into Beijing's trap as alleged by the leader of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
In an interview with the United Kingdom's Financial Times, Ma said that "we will maintain the status quo of 'no unification, no independence and no use of force.'" Ma, who has made clear his intention to run for a second term, told the newspaper that he will not open talks on unification with China while he is in office.
DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen has argued, according to the report, that by pursuing closer economic integration through the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed last June, Ma and the ruling Kuomintang are "falling into a trap of Beijing's making."
"You have to pay a political price for economic benefits, " Tsai said. Beijing, she added, will extract political concessions from Taiwan with the aim of making unification a fait accompli. "Buying Taiwan is probably less costly than taking military action, " she added.
For his part, Ma said that "we fully understand the risks and challenges involved when developing relations with the mainland." But there are big business opportunities in the rapidly growing economic powerhouse with which "we share deep bloodlines as well as ethnic, cultural and historical bonds," he said.
Beijing has more than 1,000 missiles aimed at Taiwan and has pledged to invade should Taipei declare formal independence.
Ma said Taiwan will continue to buy arms from the United States, but he added that "we certainly can't rely on weapons alone. We don't have the ability to engage in an arms race with the mainland." "The most important thing is to defuse and minimize the possibility of conflict," Ma said, adding that his policy is designed to bind the two closer together so that the threat of war recedes. "We need to employ soft power as well," he added.
Ma denied accusations that closer relations with China will lead to Taiwan becoming heavily dependent on China.
"While we seek cross-strait rapprochement we also hope to expand our international participation, " he said, partly referring to free-trade deals he says Taiwan is about to conclude with Singapore and other Asian neighbors after signing the ECFA, according to the paper.
However, Ma said he is concerned by a recent political crackdown by Beijing in apparent reaction to an Internet call for a Middle East- style revolution.
"I have always regarded this issue as an index of whether the two sides... can narrow the gap, " he aid. "When people in Taiwan see actions in mainland China that harm human rights and the rule of law, they are naturally worried." The president said that Taiwan is only "a quarter to a third" of the way through opening its economy to China and that "there is still much work to be done. "
Of the decision to go further with economic integration, Ma said that "we must courageously face the fact of China's rise and respond calmly."
(CNA) cg 09-03 1117
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