Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) on Sunday once again denied the existence of the so-called “1992 consensus” allegedly reached by cross-strait representatives almost two decades ago.
“There is no such consensus, but some people continue to maintain that it exists. Politicians should not tell [lies] to the public,” Lee, who was president between 1988 and 2000, told an event held to celebrate his upcoming birthday.
Instead, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), a party he once headed, has used the so-called consensus as a mask for its unification agenda, Lee said.
The so-called “1992 consensus” referred to by the KMT basically means “one China” and should be of serious concern to Taiwan, he said.
“Taiwan is a democracy and a sovereign and independent country; we should not be talking on the issue of ‘one China’ with communist China,” he said.
His comments are the latest denial of the so-called consensus, defined by the KMT as a tacit agreement that there is only “one China” — the meaning of which is open to interpretation. The accord was reached by cross-strait -representatives after a meeting in 1992, according to the KMT.
However, numerous high--profile politicians have denied that this agreement ever took place, despite the consensus now becoming official government policy. The late Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫), the former Straits Exchange Foundation chairman who led talks with China during that period, has denied that a consensus was ever reached.
Former KMT legislator Su Chi (蘇起), who later became head of the National Security Council, admitted in February 2006 that he made up the term in 2000 — when he was head of the Mainland Affairs Council — to break the cross-strait deadlock and alleviate tension.
On Thursday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) challenged Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to clearly state whether her party acknowledged the so-called consensus between Taiwan and China. He said such recognition was the “bedrock” for cross-strait peace.
Tsai yesterday said the president should have first asked himself whether the so-called “1992 consensus” actually existed. The DPP has never acknowledged the existence of the consensus or of “one China,” she said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique