President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) believes that if Chinese authorities acknowledge the existence of the Republic of China’s (ROC) Constitution, it would be conducive to maintaining peaceful cross-strait relations, Presidential Office spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) said yesterday in response to Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) public reference to the Constitution on Thursday.
Chen said Ma considers Wang’s remarks to be a demonstration of Beijing’s recognition of the existence of the Constitution.
“The Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion (動員戡亂時期臨時條款) were abolished in 1991 and since then authorities on the mainland have no longer been viewed [by the ROC] as a rebel group. The National Assembly then amended the Constitution with changes collectively known as the Additional Articles (增修條文), acknowledging the governments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait as two equal political entities and legally dividing the ROC into the free region and the mainland region, which made possible the subsequent Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) that has facilitated the development of cross-strait relations,” Chen said.
Chen said the “1992 consensus” and “one China, different interpretations” are based on the cross-strait relationship established according to the Constitution.
Ma made it clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during their meeting in Singapore on Nov. 7 last year that the ROC’s position of “one China, different interpretations” based on the “1992 consensus” absolutely does not involve “two Chinas,” “one China, one Taiwan” or Taiwanese independence, as they are not allowed by the Constitution, Chen added.
“President Ma has emphasized this many times over the past few years, and his straightforward mention of the Constitution during his meeting with Xi was crucial, in the sense that it was unprecedented,” Chen said.
Chen attributed the unprecedented peace and prosperity in cross-strait relations and the “status quo” to the “1992 consensus” and “one China, different interpretations,” and called on “all ROC presidents” to cherish the achievements.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
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