Taiwan’s top China policymaker is asking that presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen clarify the vision for cross-strait policy she set forward in a recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece.
In an op-ed published on Monday, Tsai said that her goal in cross-strait relations is a more consistent and sustainable relationship with China. Tsai wrote that this will require open channels of communication, both with China’s leadership and the Taiwanese people. She also wrote that she wants to implement a transparent process to enhance trust and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait.
On Wednesday, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia responded to Tsai’s editorial.
"To have consistent and sustainable communication with the other side of the strait is what we are aiming for," said Hsia. "Since President Ma took office in 2008, we’ve been instituting regular negotiations and communication. We’ve done all this on the political foundation that the Ma administration has insisted on. So we hope to understand how [Tsai] is going to achieve this lofty goal [if she becomes president]."
Hsia said that cross-strait talks are very transparent, with the legislature monitoring every step of the process since last year’s Sunflower Student Movement.