KMT leader urges Taiwanese efforts, not Trump's, for cross-strait peace

Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said Wednesday that Taiwan should depend on its own efforts rather than on U.S. President Donald Trump or anyone else to achieve peace across the Taiwan Strait.

"To want to rely on Washington, Trump, or any other person to create cross-strait dialogue, exchanges and peace, is not as good as relying on our own efforts and the people's efforts," Chu said.

Chu made the remarks at a meeting of the KMT's central standing committee, in response to a recent appearance by Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, a U.S. political talk radio show.

"We hope that Taiwan will continue to enjoy the support of President Trump," Lai had said in the interview recorded in Taipei.

"If he is able to convince Xi Jinping (習近平) to permanently renounce the use of force against Taiwan, President Trump will surely win the Nobel Peace Prize," Lai added.

On Wednesday, Chu said Lai should "ask himself what efforts he has made" to improve cross-strait relations since taking office, and suggested that Taiwan's president wants to "completely rely on the United States" to communicate with Beijing.

He said Lai's approach has offered no effort toward reconciliation or peace, and that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has created "many obstacles" when the public, local governments, or the KMT attempted exchanges with the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

"What the KMT hopes for is cross-strait dialogue; what the DPP wants is confrontation," Chu said.

He suggested, without elaborating, that the DPP's "attitude" had led to the current state of cross-strait relations.