President Ma urges China to dismantle missiles targeting Taiwan

President Ma urges China to dismantle missiles targeting Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

2010/01/04 23:34:19

Taipei, Jan. 4 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou on Monday repeated his call for Beijing to dismantle its missiles targeting Taiwan, saying the situation is something Taiwan's people do not feel very good about.

Ma made the call in his meeting with visiting Japanese parliamentarian Ono Yoshinori of the opposition Liberty Democratic Party at the Presidential Office.

Ma said his efforts to ease the tense stand-off between the two sides across the Taiwan Strait and seek the rapprochement between them since taking office in May 2008 has proven fruitful.

But while tensions in cross-strait ties have greatly subsided compared to before Taiwan's 2008 presidential election, Beijing has yet to move to reduce the number of missiles deployed targeting Taiwan, Ma said.

He underlined that China must withdraw its missile deployment or do something to handle the issue because Taiwan's people do not feel very good about it.

Addressing the regional security situation, Ma said he believes the relaxed stand-off between Taiwan and China could help Japan maintain its national security and regional stability.

The president also expressed the hope that Taiwan and Japan can develop closer cooperative relations on regional security.

(By Garfie Li and Elizabeth Hsu) enditem/ls