Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

It has recently been suggested that Taiwan should sign a “peace agreement” with China in the belief it will help reduce tensions in the Taiwan Strait. In general, the term “peace agreement” refers to anything aimed at bringing an end to a bloody conflict such as an armistice signed by warring states, a ceasefire agreement between two sides in a civil war or methods to resolve a border dispute with a neighboring nation. Not one of the 192 member nations of the UN has signed any form of “peace agreement” with Taiwan and yet still somehow manage to peacefully coexist with Taiwan. The one exception is of course China.

On the insistence of President and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the KMT recently outlined a new “three noes” principle — “no private settlement, no loose handling and no messing up.” This came in response to a court decision that People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) can now legally withdraw NT$240 million (US$7.65 million) related to the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case and deposited with the court several years ago.

The KMT has pledged to recover the money and donate it to charity. By taking this rare tough stance, Ma has indicated that the KMT wants to resolve the dispute in line with public opinion and based on law, reason and emotion. What a statement!