President Chen discusses raft of issues with Mayor Ma, recently back from US

        President Chen Shui-bian and Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou held a rare public meeting April 3 during which each communicated with the other his point of view on a number of issues, including Taiwanese identity, cross-strait affairs, the "one China" principle, the 1992 consensus, Chinese missiles and arms procurement packages.

        The meeting was the first between the president and Ma since Ma, who serves concurrently as the mayor of Taipei, became KMT chairman last August. The meeting was held at Ma's request after his return last week from a 10-day visit to the United States.

        Chen and Ma agreed during the meeting that their respective parties should "seek good fortune and avoid disaster" for Taiwan, or that Taiwan's interests should always come first, regardless of what the ruling and opposition parties do. They reached very little consensus on exactly how to go about achieving this goal, however.

        "Our parties may not see eye to eye on everything, but we must agree on this: The Democratic Progressive Party is not your enemy, but the party on the other side of the Taiwan Strait is," Chen said, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.

        "We must find a way to ensure that Taiwan benefits from our actions. This should be the common goal of the public, the ruling and opposition parties, and you and me," he told Ma, who agreed that the DPP and opposition parties should avoid political confrontation and concentrate on improving the economy.

        In addition to the "five noes" pledge made by Chen in his inaugural speech in 2000 and reaffirmed by him in 2004 when he began to serve a second term, Ma proposed a "five does" during his U.S. trip. He said the measures would help improve relations between Taiwan and China by resuming cross-strait dialogue based on the 1992 consensus and establishing a tentative peace framework, or modus vivendi, if his party wins the presidency in 2008.

        Other steps to be taken by a future KMT administration would include enhancing cross-strait economic ties, negotiating with Beijing on Taiwan's international participation and promoting cross-strait exchange.

        Chen explained that measures adopted by the DPP government were intended to protect Taiwan's democratic way of life--measures such as insisting on giving the people the right to determine important issues through referendum, allowing the National Unification Council and the National Unification Guidelines to cease functioning, and pushing for constitutional reform.

        The president stressed that no political parties should determine the future of Taiwan, but that it is up to the nation's 23 million people to decide what they want.

        In response to Ma's suggestion that the Chen administration open a dialogue with Beijing based upon the so-called 1992 consensus, Chen cited what he claimed were "authoritative" sources to back up the DPP position that, in fact, no consensus was ever reached in 1992. The president did not deny that talks indeed took place in Hong Kong between Taiwan and China that year, but he disagreed on the existence of what has come to be known as the 1992 consensus between the two sides.

        During the two-hour meeting, which was televised live nationwide, Ma called on Chen to safeguard the Republic of China (ROC) and the ROC Constitution. In response, the president said the current Constitution is based on the premise that the Republic of China's territory covers the whole of China, and therefore no longer reflects many of the current realities in Taiwan. He added that it must be amended, provided that any and all changes are approved by the legislature and the public.