The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Taipei

Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian Tuesday called for the signing of a peace agreement with China, but said any accord would have to be unconditional. Chen was responding to Chinese President Hu Jintao's call in October for an agreement to formally end the state of hostilities across the Taiwan Strait. "We wholeheartedly welcome and look favourably on any proposal that might be conducive to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," Chen said in his New Year Address, broadcast live on television. But Chen said no such agreement would be possible under Beijing's "one-China principle," which regards the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. The Taiwanese leader said he had called for cooperation with China in establishing a military buffer zone and a security consultative mechanism that would lead to the formulation of a code of conduct in the Taiwan Strait.