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.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
RSS