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President says cross-strait peace pact unrelated to unification
Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou said Tuesday that cross-strait peace is an issue that must be faced and that the signing of a cross-strait peace accord does not represent negotiating unification with the mainland. Ma's remarks came one day after he said cautious consideration would be given to signing of a cross-strait peace accord as long as it had strong public support, met the genuine needs of the nation and was monitored by the legislative branch. The opposition Democratic Progressive Party on Monday characterized Ma's vision of a cross-strait peace pact as a step toward unification, but the president rejected the link. Addressing public concerns, Ma said he wanted to explain that "this is not to negotiate unification with the mainland." He reiterated that as part of his advocacy of the "three noes" -- no independence, no unification and no use of force" -- the "no unification" pledge meant not to talk about the issue with the mainland. "But we will be unable to ignore the peace issue, and have to address it squarely," Ma said.
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