The US yesterday welcomed President Chen Shui-bian's (
"We welcome the constructive message conveyed in President Chen's speech, which we believe offers some creative ideas for reducing tension and resuming the cross-strait dialogue," US State Department spokeswoman Darla Jordan said.
"We urge both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China to take this opportunity to engage in dialogue in order to resolve their differences peacefully," she said.
Jordan said there was no change in US policy toward Taiwan and China.
"We do not support Taiwan's independence and we oppose attempts by either side to unilaterally alter the status quo," she said.
"We have long maintained that differences between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan are matters to be resolved peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, absent the threat or use of force, and should be acceptable to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait," the spokeswoman added.
Meanwhile, in China, Xu Shiquan (
"I personally think that this is the first time ever he [Chen] has clearly expressed his independence thinking and stance because he purposely remains evasive on the definition of the `1992 consensus' and his talk clearly reflects the `one state on either side of the Taiwan Strait' theory," he said.
Xu said that Chen's independence thinking was outlined distinctively in his speech, which specified the territory, population and sovereignty of the Republic of China. Such descriptions included passages in the speech saying the Republic of China is Taiwan, the sovereignty of the Republic of China belongs to the 23 million Taiwanese people and the Republic of China is an independent sovereign state.
In October 1992, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), the country's semi-official body dealing with cross-strait affairs, and its Chinese counterpart, China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), met in Hong Kong.
The preparatory meeting led to the historical talks between SEF Chairman Koo Chen-fu (
Chen's speech responded to a statement issued by China's Taiwan Affairs Office on May 17. The statement, announced three days before the president's inauguration, urged Taiwan to use what Beijing called the 1992 Consensus reached in Hong Kong to start cross-strait dialogue.
However, Beijing, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) -- the ruling party when the 1992 Hong Kong meeting took place, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), hold different ideas about what the 1992 Consensus really is.
Beijing insisted both sides agreed on the "one China" principle during the meeting.
The KMT said the 1992 Consensus means "one China, with each side having its own interpretation."
In a press conference explaining the president's speech, Chiu Tai-san (邱太三), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), noted the term "the 1992 Consensus" never appeared in any official letters China and Taiwan have exchanged.
The SEF and the ARATS exchanged at least 11 letters leading to the 1992 Hong Kong meeting and the 1993 Koo-Wang talks. None of them mentioned a 1992 Consensus, the council's archive showed.
Chen, in his address, proposed both sides use "the basis of the 1992 meeting in Hong Kong" to seek possible schemes preparing for the resumption of dialogue. He shunned the word "consensus."
"The 1992 Consensus," Chiu elaborated, "is an abstract and subjective concept. Everybody interprets it differently. Even the Chinese authorities could not clearly explain what the consensus really is."
"The basis of the 1992 meeting in Hong Kong" means "both sides' practical and positive attitude and willingness to put aside disputes and sit down to talk," Chiu explained.
"It is unlikely Chen would acknowledge the 1992 Consensus. Acknowledging the consensus means the acceptance of the `one China' principle," said Li Jiaquan (
"The reason President Chen mentioned the 1992 meeting was to remind people of the basis reached in Hong Kong," said former MAC vice chairman Chen Ming-tong (
With additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
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