The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presumptive presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) should specify which country she would like to lead, as her seeming refusal to recognize the existence of the Republic of China (ROC) in cross-strait relations throws the issue into confusion, opposition figures said yesterday.
Hung brought more controversy with her “one China, same interpretation” proposal when she said during an interview with Taiwan Television on Thursday night that the strategy was aimed at pressing China to recognize the existence of the “government” of the ROC, because “I can’t say that the ROC exists.”
A mention of the existence of the ROC would be tantamount to defining cross-strait relations as “state-to-state” relations, Hung said, a reference to what former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) had proposed in 1999.
Democratic Progressive Party spokesperson Juan Chao-hsiung (阮昭雄) yesterday asked Hung to clarify “which country she is running for.”
Hung’s “one China, same interpretation” is a “reckless” proposal that goes against mainstream opinion to “make the ROC nonexistent,” Juan said.
Given the fact that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has said he considered Hung’s “one China, same interpretation” identical to his proposal that Taiwan and China agree to the “one China” principle with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means, Ma should also clarify whether he finds Hung’s “no mention of the ROC” acceptable, Juan said.
Political activist Shih Ming-te (施明德), who has been seeking independent presidential candidacy, yesterday asked Hung not to run for president if there is no room for the ROC in her proposed cross-strait policy.
Shih said on Thursday night he was “pissed off” when he heard Hung’s views about her “one China, same interpretation” proposal.
“How can she say something like that?” Shih said. “If you can’t mention the ROC, please do not run for president of the ROC and please do not serve as deputy legislative speaker of the ROC.”
The New Power Party yesterday demanded a debate between its leader Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and Hung on the “one China, same interpretation” proposal.
Hung’s proposal has denigrated the status of Taiwan and is detrimental to the nation’s sovereignty, the New Power Party said in a statement.
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