Taiwan’s top China policy maker Andrew Hsia says that now is not the right time to hold political consultations with China. Hsia was speaking Tuesday at a symposium on cross-strait trade exchanges.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister was responding to comments made a day earlier by top Chinese official Sun Yafu about the need to hold cross-strait talks to solve political disputes. In his remark, Sun said that political dialogue between Taipei and Beijing was “urgent.”
But Hsia said that Taiwan’s stance of “economy first, politics later” remains unchanged.
“There is not enough mutual trust about political issues across the Taiwan Strait," said Hsia.
"More importantly, there is not enough of a consensus on the matter in Taiwanese society. Therefore, [now] is not a suitable time for discussing political issues, though there are those who would disagree.”