Taipei (The China Post/ANN) -
China feels like it has been tricked by the Taiwanese government, a top national security official claimed yesterday.
The Chinese government has yet to make any response to the inauguration speech of Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou because it had expected Ma to follow Kuomintang (KMT) honourary chairman Wu Bo-hsiung's "one China" stance. That Ma did not do so has probably broken the trust built up in the cross-strait relations over the past few years, and it will take some time before China and Taiwan could resume past interactions, the anonymous official said.
The Taiwanese government's current worry is that the misunderstanding might interfere with the negotiation processes of the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA). If Taiwan wants to see progress in signing free trade agreements with other countries in the future, it is necessary that cross-strait relations be as stable and trusting as they have been in the past, the national security source pointed out.
According to the official, the misunderstanding that Wu was relating a stance favouring China on behalf of Ma led the Chinese government to expect the president to follow suit in his inauguration speech. Ma not only did not mention the Chinese stance on the "one China" concept, he re-emphasised the ruling Kuomintang's belief that the ROC is in fact the only China.
Higher officials in the Taiwanese government are currently studying methods of solving the conflict in cross-strait relations without contradicting Ma's inauguration speech, the national security official said.