Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, after a meal hosted by KMT presidential hopeful Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) to iron out discrepancies between her team and the party’s legislators, said Hung has “promised” not to use the cross-strait policy of “one China, same interpretation,” but did not specify whether the promise would be valid forever or only during the campaign period.
Hung later parried questions on the reported “promise,” saying that she had “returned” to the KMT’s cross-strait policy platform, which is based on the so-called “1992 consensus.”
The backtrack, which seems to have come reluctantly, is a clear sign that Hung has compromised, choosing to hew to the party’s China policy. It also affirms that despite rumors to the contrary, she is likely to secure the presidential nomination at the party’s national congress on Sunday.
However, Hung’s unwillingness to denounce “one China, same interpretation” raises questions as to how genuine her pledge is.
With the team Hung has recruited and the support she has solicited based on her previous stance, an end to the wrangling over her policies within the KMT is unlikely.
Hung spokesperson Jack Yu (游梓翔) said the team is to put forward a platform he called “one consensus, three contents”: the “1992 consensus”; facing squarely the existence of the Republic of China (ROC) and safeguarding the ROC against Taiwanese independence; and aiming for a cross-strait peace agreement for stable ties with Beijing.
Philip Yang (楊永明), another spokesperson for Hung, added that the term “one China, same interpretation” would no longer be used, “but the substance will continue to be pursued.”
Yu’s affirmation of the “1992 consensus” shows that the team is trying to bridge the gap between Hung and the KMT. However, that Hung’s policy has not changed despite discarding its name is a dog whistle to those who support her unificationist stance.
Radio host Clara Chou (周玉蔻) yesterday said that Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) — who is widely believed to have created the term “one China, same interpretation” — met with China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Deputy Chairman Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) on July 6.
It is not at all surprising that Chang, a long-time unificationist — reported by the Chinese media to have been behind transforming the document required of Taiwanese traveling to China to a form of IC card, which, according to Chang, could later be integrated with those required of Hong Kong and Macao residents — had met with Zheng.
It is a mystery why Chang, a marginalized character even in the KMT, is one of Hung’s policy advisers.
It was reported late last month by a pan-blue camp source that KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) told Hung that Chang’s presence in her decisionmaking circle would obstruct her team’s integration with the party, a warning that Hung shrugged off.
“Hung’s team is very isolated,” the source was quoted by media as saying, adding that Hung is surrounded by pro-unification young New Party members who do not see the KMT as an ally.
Whether Chang remains a prominent figure in Hung’s campaign team will indicate how much the candidate has conceded to the mainstream.
The apparent disposal of Chang’s idea for cross-strait policy might signal a retreat, but as Hung has always been less an aspirant aiming for electoral victory than a preacher of her firmly held ideals, the KMT infighting is expected to continue, eroding the solidarity the party has been desperately calling for.
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