Govt blames Taiwan for breakdown

Upholding 1992 Consensus a 'precondition' for communication, mainland office says

Taiwan is responsible for stalling communication between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office said on Wednesday.

"Upholding the 1992 Consensus is the political foundation to maintain the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations," spokesman An Fengshan said at a news conference on Wednesday.

"It is also the foundation and precondition of regular communication between the two sides. The mainland adheres to this principle. What has changed is Taiwan. The new ruling party of Taiwan has not yet recognized the Consensus," An said.

The 1992 Consensus is the acknowledgment that the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China.

"Taiwan is fully responsible for the halt of the communication mechanism," An said.

"People cannot help but ask why Taiwan has changed the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations which has been place since 2008? What is the aim?" An said at the news conference.

Liu Xiangping, head of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Nanjing University, said, "The only way to resume the communication is for Taiwan to recognize the 1992 consensus. If the political foundation remains, dialogue will resume."

Liu also said that official channels of dialogue are important as people-to-people communication cannot be cut off.

Taiwan's new leader Tsai Ing-wen is on her first overseas trip as the leader of Taiwan, visiting Panama and Paraguay, with transit stops in the United States.

Tsai told media in Paraguay on Tuesday that Taiwan is willingly to continue to look for ways to maintain dialogue with the mainland, her office said.

"No matter what party is in government in Taiwan, we always have a single, common objective: to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits," Tsai was quoted by Reuters as saying.

She also told Reuters that other options for communication and dialogue remain, even though official negotiation channels have been temporarily interrupted.

Liu of Nanjing University said seeking other negotiation channels as a substitute for official ones is unlikely to be accepted by the mainland.

"The mainland is very unlikely to compromise. It may be Tsai's wishful thinking," he said.

luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn