The leader of the People First Party of Taiwan said yesterday that "Taiwan consciousness" should not be mistaken for "Taiwan independence" though it was once manipulated by secessionist forces to seek "Taiwan independence."
PFP Chairman James Soong, who is leading a delegation on a nine-day mainland trip, said in a speech at Beijing's Qinghua University that "Taiwan consciousness" is the natural development of Taiwan compatriots' emotions for their land and their past history.
"Manipulating 'Taiwan consciousness' in pursuit of 'Taiwan independence' is a narrow resort distorting history and throwing away the roots of the people in Taiwan," Soong said on his first visit to the mainland since 1949 when he and his family left for Taiwan.
"As an indigenous political force," the 63-year-old said, "the PFP is passionate for 'Taiwan consciousness' but never sees 'Taiwan independence' as its choice."
"We always believe that 'Taiwan independence' is a dead lane for people in Taiwan," Soong said, "therefore, we firmly oppose 'Taiwan independence."'
However, he appealed to people on the mainland to understand "Taiwan consciousness" which has complicated historical roots.
"People in Taiwan often worry that the change in the status quo across the strait would bring to naught what they have created in the past decades," Soong said, adding this was the basis of the "Taiwan consciousness" characterized by "self-protection."
While the mainland people know more about Taiwan, he said, Taiwan compatriots should also keep abreast with the day-to-day changes on the mainland.
"Mutual understanding might lead to reconciliation and further to a wise solution to the current stalemate in cross-strait relations," he said.
Citing an adage in a Taiwan dialect, "Eating too fast makes people bite the rice bowl," Soong said that patience is needed for dealing with differences between the two sides. "Only by putting people's welfare first can we find a workable solution acceptable to both sides," he said.
Soong said that nobody in the world can hold back the Chinese people from resolving their own problems "peacefully."
"History should be taken as a mirror to prevent previous wrongdoings from happening again," the PFP chairman said.
Noting that the latest edition of the American Newsweek magazine describes the 21st century as "China's Century," Soong said the Chinese nation will never seek hegemony and China will always remain a "humble power," which is the essence of the Chinese culture "we are unfolding to foreigners."
Soong's current visit came a day after the mainland trip by Lien Chan, chief of the Kuomintang Party, and will also culminate in a meeting with Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, slated for today.
Peng Zhiguo, a Qinghua graduate student who asked the first question to Soong after the speech, said he was impressed by Soong's remarks on the feelings of the people in Taiwan.
He hoped the PFP chairman will convey to Taiwan compatriots the mainland people's pathos for the temporary separation of the motherland.