The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of trying to evade legislative oversight of cross-strait affairs following news reports that KMT Chairman and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) is scheduled to meet with Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) in May or June.
Chu said in Hong Kong on Monday that “it is natural” for the KMT chairman to attend the annual KMT-CCP forum, or the cross-strait economic, trade and culture forum that was launched in 2006 when the DPP was the ruling party.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office responded quickly, with spokeswoman Fan Liqing (范麗青) saying on Tuesday that Chu was welcome to visit China at his convenience and to “work to promote cross-strait relations and cement the consensus on the ‘1992 consensus’ and the anti-independence stance.”
Photo: Lee Ya-wen, Taipei Times
According to the Chinese-language Apple Daily, which cited an anonymous KMT official in the report published yesterday, Chu has decided to visit China with a group to attend the 10th KMT-CCP forum and meet with Xi, which has received President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) support.
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said that the council “would be glad to see” any interaction between the two parties as long as it is advantageous to the mutual understanding of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Meanwhile, the DPP expressed concern that the KMT, as the ruling party, might force the public to accept any deals it struck with Beijing.
DPP caucus convener Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said that cross-strait negotiations have become “single-track” since the council took over and the Straits Exchange Foundation’s role was diminished. However, Chu is now trying to re-establish a “double-track negotiation system” with the KMT-CCP forum and seize the lead over Ma in cross-strait affairs.
A double-track system would allow negotiations to evade legislative scrutiny, he said.
“The DPP is for cross-strait interactions, but they have to be transparent and monitored,” he said.
“The cause of the Sunflower movement is still vivid in memory. The public will not accept any attempts to force them to swallow agreements borne out of negotiations that they had not sanctioned,” Tsai added.
DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said a Chu-Xi meeting would allow Chu, as KMT chairman, to meet the Chinese president.
“But is the cross-strait relationship a party-to-party one? Is the KMT representative of the Taiwanese people?” Lee asked.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-jen (吳育仁) said that the DPP could also set up its own forum with the CCP if it is “uncomfortable with the KMT-CCP forum.”
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