Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

A leaked US cable shows that American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt warned President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in 2007 that cross-strait dialogue on various issues, including a peace agreement, could be at the expense of US arms sales to Taiwan.

Following heated debate on whether to start political talks with China that could potentially lead to unification if Ma is re-elected in January after he proposed the idea on Monday, Ma said on Thursday that a pact would not be signed unless strict prerequisites were met.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday invited President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to initiate cross-party talks within one week on amending the Referendum Act (公民投票法) to include articles requiring that cross-strait political negotiations be subject to referendums.

Speaking at a press conference at DPP headquarters in Taipei, the DPP presidential candidate said cross-strait talks should not happen unless both sides approached the table without political preconditions. Any political discussion that is relevant toward the definition of a country must hold to “three musts” — must have sovereignty, must be democratic and must be peaceful — and be subjected to a nationwide referendum, she said.