TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 2 -- President Chen Shui-bian on Monday offered peace talks with Beijing, apparently seeking to regain the initiative from a political rival who is on a high-profile visit to China.
Implicit in Chen's speech during a visit to the Marshall Islands was a message to Chinese leaders that they should be talking to him, the elected president, not to Lien Chan, whom Chen has twice defeated at the polls.
"The door for dialogue and negotiation is still open between the two sides," Chen said. "Under the principles of democracy, peace and parity, the two sides can at any time begin to have contact, dialogue and negotiations."
The Chinese leadership, which has rebuffed all of Chen's requests to meet during the past five years, has warmly welcomed Lien, upstaging the Taiwanese president on one of the main issues facing Taiwan: its relationship with mainland China, which has threatened force if the island moves toward formal independence.
The threat has lingered since the Communists took over China in 1949 and the defeated Nationalist Party government retreated to this island, 100 miles across the Taiwan Strait. China regards Taiwan as a secessionist province.
In Monday's speech, Chen said the rival governments needed to talk to avert a conflict, which could quickly involve U.S. forces.
But the Beijing government is unlikely to be impressed until Chen shows interest in unification. The Taiwanese leader, an ardent nationalist and independence advocate, insists that only Taiwan's voters can determine its future.
Chen made his remarks as Lien, 68, dominated the Taiwanese and mainland media with his eight-day "journey of peace," which ends Tuesday. Huge crowds greeted Lien at every stop, and the Beijing government treated him like a head of state.
Although China and Taiwan have a multibillion-dollar trade relationship, political ties have been largely frozen. Lien's visit is the first by a Nationalist Party leader since the 1949 revolution.
Chen hopes to reclaim the initiative when another opposition leader, James Soong, travels to China on Thursday. Chen has said he is giving Soong a personal message for Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Chen's alliance with Soong is another indication of China's impact on Taiwanese politics. Soong, who heads the small People First Party, has long been one of Chen's fiercest critics. He lost to Chen in the 2000 presidential election and was defeated again in 2004 when he was Lien's running mate.
