The pan-green camp and civic groups yesterday criticized former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) for the seven-point statement he made in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing on Thursday, saying the political pledge without a mandate jeopardized Taiwan’s sovereignty.
The most controversial part of Wu’s statement included his reaffirmation that the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uphold the so-called “1992 consensus” and oppose Taiwanese independence, his call for the promotion of national identity because both sides share the same ancestry, as well as a reiteration of both sides’ adherence to the “one China” principle and “one China” framework.
While opposition to independence was nothing new, it was the first time the KMT has publicly endorsed the “one China” framework as the foundation of cross-strait relations.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday that it vehemently opposes the KMT’s adherence to the “one China” principle — the No. 1 guideline of China’s ambition to annex Taiwan, which is not welcomed by a majority of Taiwanese.
“The DPP also condemns Wu engaging in political talks, which involve state authority, with the CCP as a private citizen, without authority from the government. His behavior has seriously infringed upon the democratic process,” DPP spokesperson Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) told a press conference.
Meanwhile, former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) released a statement yesterday that said “the shared ideology of the KMT and the CCP should not override Taiwan’s democratic establishment.”
Wu’s advocacy of a “one country, two regions” framework last year in Beijing and the “one China” structure, which echoed Beijing’s “one China” framework this year, has tarnished the spirit of the Constitution and made Taiwan’s status as a sovereign country ambiguous, Tsai said.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has betrayed the people’s mandate and his duty as president, she said, adding that Ma should immediately correct the mistake by offering a clear explanation of Taiwan’s sovereignty to the international community.
On Thursday evening, Honigmann Hong (洪財隆), director of the DPP’s Department of China Affairs, said Ma and the KMT “have put the ROC [Republic of China] and its people behind them” with the statement, adding that while both sides share the same ancestry, the 23 million Taiwanese are entitled to decide their own future.
Ma’s moves appeared to have been carefully crafted, Hong said, citing Ma saying that cross-strait relations are not state-to-state earlier this week before the Wu-Xi meeting. He said the government’s interaction with Beijing has been dictated by the KMT-CCP communication platform, which is a serious erosion of Taiwan’s democratic mechanisms.
Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), secretary-general of the DPP caucus, said Wu’s statement, in particular his emphasis of Chinese nationalism and ancestry, has seriously harmed Taiwanese sentiment and Taiwan’s democratic system.
“Ma had pledged that Taiwan’s future would be decided by its 23 million people during his presidential campaign. Taiwan’s future should neither be decided by Ma nor by the KMT,” she said.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union said in a statement that Wu’s statement was “a disgrace to the nation and a unilateral comment without the approval of the legislature” with which most Taiwanese disagree.
The Taiwan Democracy Watch, a rights group consisting of academics, also said it was seriously concerned about what it called a “constitutional crisis” because the KMT “has made cross-strait engagement an exclusive KMT-CCP engagement.”
National Taiwan University professor Yen Chueh-an (顏厥安) said backroom politics should not be the norm in a democracy, and that the legislature and the public must be given the opportunity to deliberate cross-strait affairs.
“Ma has no right to authorize the KMT to conduct cross-strait negotiations and the KMT, as a political party, has no right to be the negotiator,” Yen said.
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