TAIPEI -- Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je said he himself is willing to assume new role for a breakthrough in the development of cross-Strait relations.
"I'm not a member of the Kuomintang or a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), so I don't have to bear the burden of the two parties," Ko said in an interview with Xinhua on Monday.
"Therefore, it will create an opportunity for me and the Taipei city under my leadership to break the stalemate concerning the cross-Strait relations and let the mainland and Taiwan have better communication and development," Ko said.
When asked about the "1992 consensus", Ko said actually no one in the world thinks there are "two Chinas" and therefore "one China" is not a problem.
The "1992 consensus" was an agreement reached in 1992 with a core of acknowledgment that the Chinese mainland and Taiwan belong to one and the same China.
He said agreements already signed between the mainland and Taiwan, as well as the exchange history between both sides, should be respected.
To boost cross-Strait exchange and let people on both sides to pursue a common and better future, leaders of the mainland and Taiwan should, based on the existing political foundation, uphold the principle of knowing each other, understanding each other, respecting each other and cooperating with each other and adhere to the spirit of "both sides belong to one family", Ko said.
The cross-Strait exchange in the past had both successful achievements and flaws, Ko said, adding the mainland and Taiwan should exchange in a multi-dimensional and diversified way.
Any provocative remarks or those that do no good to the increase of good wills across the Strait are unnecessary and should be restrained, Ko said.
Ko again tried to clarify his remarks he made during an interview with the Foreign Policy published in January, saying what he had said was interpreted out of the context and misunderstood as praising colonization.
After the controversy about his remarks about colonization, Ko said he is also reflecting on himself about how to explain an idea completely within a very short period of time.
"I know what I do (concerning cross-Strait relations) could draw different views from some people. But if I don't set out to do it, there will be no breakthrough," he said, adding he is willing to take responsibility for the sake of cross-Strait peace and well-being of the people.
"Just as what I had done as a surgeon before, results will prove it," Ko said.
