Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday criticized President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) praising on Wednesday night of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) “six points.”
“Hu’s six points, wrapped up in the one China frame, are extremely unfavorable to Taiwan’s sovereignty,” Tsai told a press conference yesterday.
“President Ma’s public affirmation of Hu’s six points has unquestionably belittled Taiwan’s sovereignty,” she said.
The “six points” derive from a speech by Hu on Dec. 31 to mark the 30th anniversary of the “Message to Compatriots in Taiwan.”
Hu said that cross-strait relations must be based on firm adherence to the “one China principle.”
On Wednesday, during a teleconference with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Ma, when asked about Hu’s speech, said his administration had responded positively to Hu’s call to establish a “comprehensive economic cooperation agreement” and proposed signing an “economic cooperation framework agreement” with Beijing.
The basis of the growing cross-strait rapprochement, Ma said, is the “1992 consensus,” which he defined as both sides recognizing that there is only one China, but agreeing to differ on its definition.
Calling the “1992 consensus” KMT rhetoric, Tsai said the DPP would never support any agreement that contains the phrase.
“No matter whether the DPP is the ruling or the opposition party, we will never allow the so-called 1992 consensus to be recognized,” she said.
Ahead of cross-strait negotiations in Nanjing, Tsai urged the Taiwanese delegation to demand talks on the issue of Taiwanese and Chinese airlines being able to operate flights from each other’s territory to other countries.
“If the upcoming cross-strait talks fail to produce substantial results on the issue, the negotiations should be considered a flop,” she said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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