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Cary Huang

Ray Cheung

A breakthrough, say president and PFP leader, but Chen Shui-bian says no deal

Taiwan's opposition leader James Soong Chu-yu brokered a new deal with Beijing yesterday, coining a new phrase - 'two sides, one China' - in a bid to break the stalemate across the Taiwan Strait.

The deal - reached in a meeting with Chinese Communist Party General Secretary and President Hu Jintao  - also included a commitment by Beijing that there would be no need for 'military confrontation' if Taipei promised not to take any further steps towards independence.

Both sides also agreed to push for talks to establish a free-trade zone and regular direct flights between Taiwan and the mainland as early as next year.

Hailed by Xinhua as a milestone in cross-strait relations, yesterday's meeting crowned the nine-day visit to the mainland by the People First Party chairman, who was said to have carried a personal message from Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian  to Mr Hu.

But last night, Mr Chen rejected the Hu-Soong agreement and said he could not accept a 'repackaged 1992 consensus'.

He called the mainland visits by Mr Soong and Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan  'stones tossed by the opposition for him to tap the mainland's door'. But the 'stones hit an iron plate and did not go through'.

A senior official of the policy-making Mainland Affairs Council also said the Hu-Soong deal was not acceptable.

'The so-called 'two sides, one China' basis is actually the 'three tier' theory of the 'one-China' principle,' said the official, who declined to be named.

The 'three-tier theory'  is that there is only one China, Taiwan and the mainland are part of China, and its sovereign and territorial status cannot be separated.

In a press conference after his meeting with Mr Hu, Mr Soong emphasised that by agreeing to 'two sides, one China', Taiwan now had the chance to reopen the stalled cross-strait dialogue.

'Everyone please pay special attention - we have never before seen the mainland side publicly commit to this basis, that the two sides [of the Taiwan Strait] can have their own interpretations [of the 'one-China' principle],' Mr Soong said. 'This thereby allows us to have an agreement.'

Mr Soong was referring to Mr Chen's argument that the '1992 consensus' was an invention by the KMT and that Beijing had not publicly declared it would allow Taiwan to have its own interpretation of the principle.

'I must specifically point out - that we are using a new phase 'two sides, one China' to express what was in that long statement of the 1992 consensus,' Mr Soong said.

'Whether Taiwan authorities should accept this new phrase - I think this decision should be left to [the Taiwanese] public to decide.'

He declined to reveal what 'message' he had taken from Mr Chen to Mr Hu but said he had fully reflected the wishes of the Taiwanese people to his mainland hosts.

In a joint communique issued after the meeting, both the Communist Party and PFP agreed to promote the realisation of direct flights across the Taiwan Strait by the end of 2006.

Other concessions offered by Beijing include: opening the mainland's agricultural markets to the island's farmers; negotiations on avoidance of double-taxation for Taiwanese businessmen; lower tuition fees for Taiwanese students on the mainland; and discussions on allowing direct remittances between the two sides.

The six-point consensus reached between the two parties apparently contained more concrete and substantial measures than the agreement clinched by the KMT chairman two weeks ago.

Before the talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday, Mr Hu repeated an offer to have talks with any individuals or political parties from Taiwan as long as they agreed to the 'one-China' principle and backed the '1992 consensus'.

'Cross-strait relations are at a crucial moment now,' he said. 'The times, and the Chinese people, require our political party leaders  ... to work hard in this regard.'

In reply, Mr Soong said the whole world was watching to see if Beijing and Taipei could work together to break the deadlock.

'I am full of expectations and hope,' he said.

Additional reporting by Jacky Hsu



Soong, Hu reach new 'one China' consensus