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TAIPEI: Taiwan’s main opposition presidential candidate pledged
not to talk to Beijing about reunification with China if he is
elected, as campaigning for the March polls formally began Sunday.
But Ma Ying-jeou also made it clear that he
opposed independence for Taiwan, something Beijing has repeatedly
warned could provoke it to invade the island.
“I said before that if elected, I would adopt
a policy to stabilize cross-Strait ties. If I am allowed the
opportunity to rule the country, I will not talk with the mainland
on issues concerning unification of China,” said Ma, of the major
opposition nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party.
Ma favors improved ties with Beijing, which
regards Taiwan as part of its territory.
His comments came after the ruling Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP), reeling after a crushing defeat in this
month’s parliamentary polls, warned that Taiwan could be sold out
to China if he was elected.
He is standing against DPP candidate Frank Hsieh
in the March 22 vote for a successor to the ruling party’s Chen
Shui-bian.
Chen was elected as president in 2000, ending
the KMT’s 51-year grip on power, and narrowly reelected for a
second and final term in 2004.
Ma, a former mayor of Taipei, and running mate
Vincent Siew registered their candidacy at the Central Election
Commission Sunday, followed later in the day by former premier Hsieh
and running mate Su Tseng-chang.
The KMT pair has focused their campaign appeal
on a pledge to revitalize Taiwan’s sluggish economy, once the
pride of the island.
However, Ma also reiterated his ambition to
reopen dialogue with Beijing on economic issues to seek “peace,
prosperity and dignity” for Taiwan.
The issue of reunification has divided Taiwan,
which split from China in 1949 at the end of a civil war. Tensions
between the two sides have escalated since Chen was elected
president in 2000.
Earlier this month the opposition Kuomintang
dealt a humiliating blow to the DPP, winning 81 of 113 seats in the
new parliament against the DPP’s 27. The KMT’s smaller allies
took the remaining five seats.
-- AFP
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