Taiwan media hail move to accommodate China's demand for talks

TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) -- Taiwan media on Monday hailed an attempt by President Chen Shui-bian's advisory body on China to meet Beijing's demand for the resumption of stalled dialogue without alienating pro-independence supporters.

"Creative ambiguity," the mass circulation China Times said, referring to the group's recommendation that Chen go back to Taiwan's constitution to find a way to accommodate Beijing's insistence that he embrace its cherished "one China" principle.

"The first step in seeking common ground despite differences," the newspaper said of the consensus reached by politically polarised pro-independence and pro-reunification members of the group.

MESSAGE BOARD Taiwanese statehood?

Analysts said the ambiguous formulation announced by the group on Sunday was an attempt to allow Chen to sidestep the vexed issue and accommodate Beijing's demand without uttering the words "one China."

Chen could alienate his most ardent supporters who want nothing short of independence if he bowed to the "one China" principle that there is only one China in the world of which Taiwan is an inseparable part.

Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province and has threatened to invade if the island declared statehood or dragged its feet on reunification talks.

The election of Chen of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party in March alarmed Beijing, but he eased tensions by offering soothing words to the world's most populous nation.

Beijing remains deeply suspicious of Chen and has ignored his overtures. Instead, Beijing has wooed Taiwan's opposition and business leaders after Chen resisted Chinese pressure to kowtow to the "one China" principle.

The mass circulation United Daily News applauded the consensus in an editorial, saying it pushes Chen to "stand in the front line of cross-strait policy."

But the newspaper questioned whether "masking" the "one China" dogma would be acceptable to Beijing.

The consensus is "a shield for the new government," it said.

The English-language Taipei Times slammed the consensus, calling it "an opportunity missed."

"By dodging its own inability to agree on anything substantial, the group performed a signal disservice to Taiwan," the newspaper said in an editorial.

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