Can somebody tell me how the KMT gets away with this? Unless there’s some legal process I’m not aware of, how is it they’re able to bypass Taiwan’s diplomatic channels to negotiate on behalf of Taiwan?
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2005/01/10/2003218788
KMT still hasn’t conceded defeat in last year’s presidential elections, has it? They still think they’re the government 
OTOH, if KMT go unofficially and the results are not what the government wants, it’s easy to maintain distance from the whole mess. Sooner or later the old ‘one-China’ bogeyman will come up and that will be the end of negotiations. China just can’t keep that skeleton in the closet.
國民黨立委赴中談包機 綠營開砲
KMT Legislators visit China to talk of new year flights Greens open fire
國民黨包機協商 王金平：不清楚來龍去脈
KMT New Year flight Negotiations Wang Jinping: I’m not clear on the ins and outs
[quote]王金平今天表示，他不清楚來龍去脈，但若批評洽談包機是國共會談，實在「言重了」。
王金平上午在立法院接受媒體詢問時說，整個兩岸包機談判，他不知道來龍去脈，可能是國民黨擔心政府協商無法達成圓滿結局，認為有必要主動出面，才會有意促成。其餘包機協商的內情，一概不清楚。[/quote]
[quote]Wang Jinping expressed today that although he wasn’t clear regarding the ins and outs, to attack talks on the spring flights as a KMT-CCP Meeting, would in actuality be “going too far.”
This afternoon at the legislature Wang Jinping took media questiosn and said that regarding all of the ins and outs of cross strait spring flight talks, he wasn’t very clear, but that probably the KMT was just worried the government negotiators wouldn’t be able to come to a totally satisfactory agreement, and so they figured there was a need to actively go out in order to get some results. Regarding content of the negotiations on the flights, he was entirely unclear.[/quote]
包機爭功？國親黨團雙雙否認
Spring Flights–fighting for success? KMT/PFP both deny
Taiwan doesn’t have any diplomatic channels for negotiating with mainland China.
Think the blue guys just taking some days off from losing law suits they filed about the Presidential election. Perhaps they just take some practice in a cold city to prepare for the next camping in front of the Presidential palace in 2008. Look at it from a positive side. They may like it over there and hopefully stay!
Political grandstanding. The KMT were banking that the DPP would be unable to broker the agreement.
So today (Monday), we get the KMT trumpeting their success.
A bit late, however, since the MAC and the Beijing civil aviation authorities had already brokered the principles of the deal in Macau the previous day.
Pan-blue. A day late, a dollar short – as usual. A bunch of clowns. 
These brave pan-Blue delegated proudly represent ROC in enemy territory as a gesture of good will. Best leave the pan-Green in a back seat on the negotiations or there will be no flights at all for the Chinese New Year.
Calling John Chang “brave” is as farcical a statement as you’re likely to find in this forum. And the idea that he could represent Taiwan in any capacity other than as the proud but next-to-last in a sorry line of autocrats is silly. Sorry, ac, for these turncoats, the enemy is a lifeline.
But didn’t young Johnny and friends look comfortable playing the role of vassal envoys! Brilliant stuff.
I don’t think we’ll be seeing LTH or CSB stepping onto the mainland alive or “free” in our lifetime. So might as well use what resources we can muster to have proactive dialogue on a simple matter the rest of the world already enjoys with the PRC.
Those that are willing to face ridicule in the ROC and PRC to bring ROC one step closer to peace with PRC, are shining example of how men of character act when presented with the opportunity of doing the greater good (or lesser evil).
Having links with the PRC is just economic suicide. This is what the Chinese want in their master plan to “annex” our free Republic into the Communist Empire. I am even more saddened that Chinese quislings like the KMT would be willing to fall into this obvious trap.
I do not want to see any of my President being dragged into Chinese soil within my lifetime.
Junichiro Koizumi has been to China already.
So if, say, someone in your company negotiated a deal with another company without your approval, that would be okay with you?
How about if I negotiate the terms of your next financial transaction?
[quote]So if, say, someone in your company negotiated a deal with another company without your approval, that would be okay with you?
How about if I negotiate the terms of your next financial transaction?[/quote]
If I was a head of a large company that only spent time on try to change our corporate culture and dismantling a legacy system with little or no concern to employee welfare or market trends, I would not be surprised if executives of the main and subsidary offices decide to jump ship or make other alliances to ensure their livilihood.
Or if I stated that we were going to go into direct competition with IBM and Microsoft with little or no capitalization in their own market of high end hardware consulting and operating systems, I’m sure my “fearless” leader label would be in question as well.
With a Golden parachute and stock options most executives have, a M&A would be a win-win situation for all parties involved I’m sure.
Corporate politics is somewhat less chivalrous than real politics. Corporate politics follows only the Golden Rule; those with the gold make the rules.
The question is not whether these delegates are ligitimate representatives of ROC. The issue is these are the ONLY representative the PRC will recieve that will not humiliate ROC. Until the pan-Green wise up to how international politics works in the Strait Issue, I’m afraid only the KMT or moderate pan-Blue politician can goto the mainland under the guise of non-official capacity.
Of course, from some point of view these actions can be considered treason.
This only makes sense if you believe that the administration didn’t know or tacitly approved this. If we’re to believe that CSB really wants a rapprochment between the two parties and work toward a unified Taiwan, then this isn’t such a big deal. Besides, the direct flight issue is one thing that at least the Greens and the Blues can agree upon.
Getting folks from work to home, during a holiday, in an efficient, effective manner – causes a comment of:
That is precisely the sort of rhetoric that causes the Beijing attitude of:
[quote]Beijing rejects call for official talks on flights
www.chinaview.cn 2005-01-13 08:00:41
BEIJING, Jan. 13 -- Beijing yesterday rejected Taipei's call for official talks on details of direct cross-Straits charter flights for the upcoming Spring Festival.
He Shizhong, director of the Economic Bureau with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the involvement of mainland and Taiwanese airlines and airline associations should be sufficient.
"I can say in a clear and responsible manner that members of the Taiwan Affairs Office and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits will not attend the talks," he told a routine news conference.
So it would be "inappropriate, impractical and a demonstration of insincerity" for Taipei to expect its officials to take part in the negotiations.
The senior official made the comments in response to Taipei's demands for government talks to pave the way for the participation of mainland carriers in direct charter flights for the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on February 9 this year.
The island wants members of its "mainland affairs council" and semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation to act as advisers for Taiwanese negotiators.
Beijing, however, has refused any contact with the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party administration headed by Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian.
He said this year's direct charter flight programme can be handled as a special arrangement, which does not have to involve an official aviation agreement. [/quote]
No matter that folks agree “in principle” to flights across the straits, it’s the “details” of an airplane and a ticket before the holiday is over that makes the deal. Let’s just hope that the discussions get the details worked out and that the operation of the flights is a success. Rhetoric weary voters deserve nothing less.
OOC