Despite criticism from some former US officials who urged Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to come up with “something new” in cross-strait relations, the party looks set to stick to its Resolution on Taiwan’s Future.
Although a number of former US officials and academics, including former American Institute in Taiwan managing director Barbara Schrage, have criticized Tsai for what they consider a failure to present new policy proposals on cross-strait relations alongside her presidential bid, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday quoted an unnamed senior DPP official as saying that the party would stick to its 1999 resolution.
The party has good communication channels with the US government, and has confirmed that Schrage’s statement does not represent the US government’s official stance, the report quoted the DPP official as saying.
It is already an “old trick” of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party to manipulate retired officials or academics in Washington to pressure the DPP through making statements, the source said, adding that the trick might no longer be effective in the wake of the Sunflower movement protests and the DPP’s victories in the nine-in-one local elections last year, according to the report.
The DPP is confident that the resolution reflects a public consensus in Taiwan, and therefore would not give it up, the source reportedly said.
The Resolution on Taiwan’s Future refers to a declaration adopted by the DPP’s national convention in 1999 that says the party recognizes Taiwan as a sovereign nation and that any change to the “status quo” has to be decided by Taiwanese voters via a referendum.
The resolution also affirms the DPP’s stance that Taiwan is not part of the People’s Republic of China and that it is opposed to the ideas of “one China” or “one country, two systems,” as “unilaterally proposed by China,” but would seek to establish friendly relations with China as two separate nations.
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