Taipei, Sept. 5 (CNA) Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chang Hsiao-yueh on Tuesday called on China to restart dialogue with Taiwan without any preconditions.
Taiwan believes the governments on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should meet, hold dialogue and negotiate with each other, but there should be no preconditions, Chang said at a workshop on cross-Taiwan Strait relations.
"The mainland wants us to accept the 'one China principle' before talks can begin, and we say 'no'," Chang said, addressing the 100-plus undergraduates at the workshop.
In light of the differences between Taipei and Beijing, it is imperative that they sit down to discussions, she said, pointing out that cross-strait dialogue had started before the existence of the so-called "1992 consensus."
Chang's call for cross-strait dialogue came against the backdrop of Beijing's freeze on official talks with Taipei because of the President Tsai Ing-wen administration's refusal to endorse the "1992 consensus," which implies that China and Taiwan are part of "one China."
Given China's proximity, just across the Taiwan Strait, and the fact that it is Taiwan's largest trading partner, it is impossible for Taiwan to ignore China, Chang said.
However, Beijing's claim that Taiwan is "part of China" is a "deviation from fact," she said. "We're an independent sovereign state," Chang said.
