Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is set to return to Taiwan tonight after a trip to the US during which she has made efforts to portray herself as a leader both Washington and Beijing can work with comfortably if she wins the presidential election in January next year.
Two points Tsai has made are ostensible efforts in this regard. In a major speech, Tsai said she would push for the peaceful and stable development of cross-strait relations in accordance with the will of Taiwanese and “the existing Republic of China [ROC] Constitutional order.”
Tsai also complimented Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ideas about cleaning up corruption and his courage to do so, when asked about her perception of him.
Tsai’s pledge to honor the existing constitutional order on cross-strait relations caught the attention of American Institute in Taiwan board member David Brown, who asked her to elaborate on it.
Tsai offered what she said was a “professor’s answer” on the definition of the term, saying “constitutional order” covers anything related to “the provision of the Constitution itself, subsequent amendments, interpretations, court decisions based on these provisions and practices by different divisions of the government and different sectors of the population.”
The existing ROC constitutional order might as well be seen as Tsai’s alternative proposal in place of the so-called “1992 consensus,” the formula on which the “one China” principle is based, although she obviously avoided breathing a word of the “one China” principle or the “1992 consensus,” despite being repeatedly pressed by members of the audience.
Given that the ROC Constitution is indisputably a “one China” constitution — as shown in its main text and in its amendments — it is fair to say that Tsai basing her cross-strait policy on the existing constitutional order means that the “one China” principle is part of her definition of the “status quo” that she said her policy would be able to maintain.
Tsai’s objective of maintenance of the cross-strait “status quo” is tantamount to precluding the possibility of pushing for de jure independence, while maintaining the “status quo” under the framework of the ROC Constitution further equates to her acceptance of a version of “one China.”
It is a positive response to Beijing’s precondition that Taipei adhere to the “one China” principle to continue cross-strait dialogues, even though it is represented only cryptically, which could still be considered unacceptable by Beijing.
Beijing has said that there is no room for ambiguity when it comes to the “one China” principle.
Tsai seized another chance to offer a goodwill gesture to Beijing when asked to comment on Xi. Describing Xi as a “very determined person,” Tsai said that she likes his anti-corruption campaign, because China must have its house in order, adding that she “admires his courage” to do the cleanups.
However, the anti-corruption drive that Xi launched in 2013 has been characterized not so much by his commitment to bringing clean governance as by an old-fashioned purge, in which Xi has obliterated political rivals and consolidated his power.
Addressing public grievances over corruption by bringing down corrupt officials without introducing the rule of law and carrying out institutional reforms shows that Xi is intent on keeping China’s state apparatus unaffected by its problem of rampant corruption, which is an aspect of the anti-corruption campaign that must not be overlooked in efforts to understand what the drive is about.
The two points that Tsai has made are quite unusual for a DPP leader. Whether they can defuse suspicions that Washington and Beijing might harbor about her ability to maintain cross-strait peace and stability and whether her supporters can reconcile them with the DPP’s traditional values remain to be seen.
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