Seven politicians and academics, headed by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德), yesterday unveiled the “five principles” of a proposal, named the “broad one-China framework” (大一中原則), that they say could resolve the domestic political divide and stalemated cross-strait relations.
The group crosses party lines, and includes former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Chen Ming-tung (陳明通), who served under the DPP administration, and former National Security Council secretary-general Su Chi (蘇起), who served under President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.
Shih said the five principles include “respecting the present ‘status quo’ and not changing it unilaterally,” adding that the “status quo” is that the Republic of China (ROC) and People’s Republic of China (PRC) have coexisted since 1949, with bilateral relations seeing a gradual transformation from “fighting with each other” to “governing separately.”
Photo: CNA
The “broad one-China framework” is aimed at establishing an international legal entity — consisting of the ROC and the PRC — for resolving issues through consensus, and serving as an interim scheme, Shih said.
The two sides under the framework should strive to eliminate hostility and work together to maintain peace and safety in the region, Shih said.
Both sides should promise not to use military force or sign any military agreement that is unfavorable to the other side, and both should be allowed to join international organizations, such as the UN, and establish normal state relations with other countries, he said.
“The five principles cannot be taken apart, they are like a set meal,” Shih said.
He said the initiative was inspired by the Chinese Civil War and Taiwan’s decades-long Martial Law era that for many years created deep hostility and divisions among the people, adding that political manipulations for election purposes have led to a great division between the pan-blue and pan-green camps to the point that they cannot communicate with the other.
Beijing’s “one country, two systems” or the “Hong Kong model” under its “one China principle” would not be accepted by Taiwanese, while neither the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) “one China with different interpretations” policy or the DPP’s “ROC equals Taiwan” proposal have found support, Shih said.
The civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and KMT has led to animosity, but Taiwanese in general have no hatred toward China, so the PRC should try to understand why the Taiwanese cannot accept its claim of goodwill toward Taiwan, instead of believing that reconciliation with KMT means Beijing can take over the fate of the people of Taiwan, he said.
Su, a confidant of Ma, said that the Ma administration’s “three noes” — “no unification, no independence, no use of force”— is too passive, and could neither adapt to a changing environment nor solve future problems.
The nation’s challenges of the “big triangle” — the relations between the US, PRC and the ROC — and the “small triangle — the relations between the CCP, the KMT and the DPP — have become unstable, Su said.
Taiwan needs to initiate a creative scheme to create its own future, he said.
Responding to a question on whether the sovereignty of the PRC and the ROC under the proposed framework would be “separate” or “overlapping,” Su said that ambiguity could sometimes lead to better cross-strait relations.
“When things are explained clearer, the less flexible it is ... it would be troublesome if you only have two choices all the time … a certain amount of ambiguity is beautiful,” he said.
One of the most prominent China experts in the DPP, Chen said he thinks the five principles are a feasible compromise between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, but any proposition for improving cross-strait relations must be decided by the 23 million Taiwan ese through a national referendum.
The other five people behind the “broad one-China framework” are Tamkang University Graduate Institute of China Studies director Andy Chang (張五岳), former DPP legislator Hong Chi-chang (洪奇昌), former minister of foreign affairs Cheng Chien-jen (程建人) and former Straits Exchange Foundation vice chairman Chiao Jen-ho (焦仁和).
Hong and Chiao are both KMT members.
Shih, who was a political prisoner for more than 25 years under the former KMT administration, resigned from the DPP in 2000.
In 2006, he helped lead protests against the DPP government of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
SURPRISE GUEST: Media reports identified the visitor as Admiral Michael Studeman, director of the J2, which oversees intelligence at the US military’s Indo-Pacific Command A two-star US Navy admiral overseeing US military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region has made an unannounced visit to Taiwan, two sources told Reuters on Sunday. The sources, who include a Taiwanese official familiar with the situation, said the official was Rear Admiral Michael Studeman. They were speaking on condition of anonymity. After initially saying on Sunday night that it had no comment about the report, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it welcomed the visit of an “unidentified US official,” but declined to give more details because the trip “has not been made public.” Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) yesterday
AUTUMN STRUGGLE: The KMT and TPP set up stages on the rally’s sidelines, while Want Want boss Tsai Eng-meng said the DPP was curtailing freedom of speech Tens of thousands of people in Taipei yesterday took part in the “Autumn Struggle” (秋鬥) — an annual protest march by labor groups — but with this year’s focus on rejecting the government’s plan to allow imports of US pork containing ractopamine residue. “Against poisonous pork, against double standards, against a party-state,” the protesters, mostly wearing black, chanted in front of the rally’s main stage on Ketagalan Boulevard at about noon, before a parade set off at 2pm. Autumn Struggle spokesperson Lee Chien-cheng (李建誠) said this year’s march was divided into three teams, with the first team urging food safety and labor
DEFENSE: The construction of indigenous submarines will be a testament to the nation’s commitment to safeguard its sovereignty, President Tsai Ing-wen said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony to mark the start of construction of the nation’s first indigenous submarine at state-run shipbuilder CSBC Corp’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. “This submarine is an important part of allowing our navy to develop asymmetric warfare and to intimidate and block enemy ships from surrounding Taiwan’s main island,” Tsai said. “With the construction of the submarine to its future commission, we will certainly let the world know our persistence in safeguarding our sovereignty.” Tsai has made boosting the nation’s indigenous defense capacity a central pillar of her defense policy. She recently relaunched the
ESPIONAGE CHARGE: A TAO spokesperson said that the rights of Shih Cheng-ping were ‘fully safeguarded’ during the hearing, which handed him four years in prison China sentenced Shih Cheng-ping (施正屏), a former National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) professor, to four years in jail for espionage, officials said yesterday. The ruling came a month after Shih made a televised “confession” on state media. Shih, who is also a former chief economist for Chinese conglomerate Huaxia Group (華夏集團), was found guilty by a Chinese court on Tuesday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) told a news briefing. Shih — who vanished after traveling to China in August 2018 — was among Taiwanese who China Central Television (CCTV) last month showed confessing to spying. CCTV often broadcasts suspects admitting to crimes, even
RSS