BEIJING, April 8 -- In the wake of the opposition Kuomintang's (KMT) historic mainland visit, Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian and his ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration have finally taken action. But, unfortunately it is in the wrong direction.

    They are trying to hinder cross-Straits exchanges when the Taiwanese public expect better ties with the mainland.

    Late on Tuesday, Chen announced a seven-point consensus after convening a government policy meeting with high-ranking officials.

    The accord demands that anybody who makes deals with the mainland or its representatives without permission or authorization according to law should be investigated and punished.

    The meeting also concluded that relevant cross-Straits economic and trade policies should be immediately reviewed to stress "the most basic and important aspect of effective management."

    Meanwhile, the island's public prosecutors' office has launched an investigation into whether the KMT delegation headed by vice-chairman Chiang Pin-kung broke the law dealing with cross-Straits relations during last week's visit to the mainland. The delegation reached a 10-point agreement with mainland departments on a wide range of issues from air transport to the sale of Taiwan's agricultural products on the mainland.

    All these steps, Chen said, are aimed at "avoiding a flurry of mainland fever hurting Taiwan's dignity and interests." Such an excuse, however, is questionable and fails to justify the politically-motivated move.

    By threatening with legal action, Chen and his administration are apparently targeting the KMT's efforts to promote closer economic ties and peace across the Straits. But they cannot deny that what the KMT is doing is in the interests of Taiwan and conforms to the needs of most Taiwanese people. It is evident that Chen and his administration do not want to see the KMT does what they are unable or unwilling to do.

    The dilemma exposes Chen's selfish goal of trying to cool what he called "mainland fever." He has tried to protect the interests of himself and his pro-independence party rather than the interests of Taiwan.

    Since taking power on May 20, 2000, Chen has done little to improve cross-Straits relations. In order to promote Taiwan's secession from the motherland, high on Chen's wanted list are sustained cross-Straits tensions and confrontation among the people on both sides. The last thing he wants to see is closer cross-Straits exchanges, which stand in the way of his de-Sinofication attempts.

    Through setting up more hurdles to the development of cross-Straits relations, Chen and his DPP administration are actually turning themselves against the will of the majority of Taiwanese people who hope for peace, development, stability and better cross-Straits ties.

    It is no surprise that even those who once threw their weight behind Chen have begun to turn away from the leader.

    Hus Wen-lung, the founder of one of Taiwan's largest conglomerates, the Chi Mei Group, warned on March 26 that "promoting independence will only lead Taiwan to war and drag the Taiwanese people into a disaster." The warning of the influential tycoon, who funded Chen's "presidential" bid in 2000, is clearly a sign of the business community's dissatisfaction with the DPP administration's pro-independence policy.

    It may be easy for Chen and his administration to threaten opposition parties. But how they can avoid the looming crisis with their cross-Straits policy will be quite a different story. Enditem

(Source: China Daily)