The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) national congress yesterday adopted new policy platforms that include enhancing the so-called “1992 consensus” on the basis of the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution and exploring possibilities for ending cross-strait hostility through the pursuit of a peace accord.
The congress, meeting at the Zhongshan Hall on Yangmingshan in Taipei, passed the platforms following a speech by KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who characterized the measures as necessary to combat the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “pro-independence party constitution” and “de-sinicization agenda.”
The amendments were drafted as a response to the January presidential and legislative elections and sources said Hung had backed the changes as a part of her reform package, meant to adjust the party’s strategy to its status as an opposition party with a legislative minority.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
The master agenda is to carry out “honest reflections and bold reforms,” while the revised policy platform is to clarify the party line on issues encompassing diplomacy, cross-strait issues, democratization, economics, education and judicial affairs.
The party is to facilitate cross-strait exchanges and pursue a peace accord with China, while the “1992 consensus” is to be consolidated on the basis of the Constitution, it said.
However, unlike the platform adopted in July last year under then-KMT chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), in which the text clearly included “the 1992 consensus with ‘one China’ and each side having its own interpretation,” the platform passed yesterday left out “one China, with each side having its own interpretation.”
Former KMT lawmaker Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 said that he had made up the term “1992 consensus” in 2000 when he was head of the Mainland Affairs Council.
The new platform said the KMT would “exercise initiatives to explore the possibility to end cross-strait hostilities” via a peace agreement, and ensure the welfare of Taiwanese by “playing an institutionalized role” in promoting peace.
KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), the former legislative speaker, said before the congress that the inclusion of a peace accord would offer Taiwanese and the government a vision and a potential option, which everyone can discuss and build a consensus upon.
A survey carried out by the party showed that 51.5 percent of respondents approved of the new policy platform, while 20.2 percent were opposed to it, KMT Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said.
However, former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said before the congress: “I always insist that the words ‘1992 consensus’ must never be separated from the words, ‘one China, with each side having its own interpretation.’”
KMT Youth League head and Central Standing Committee member Hsiao Ching-yan (蕭敬嚴) also dissented over the omission of the phrase, saying the new version “pandered to an even smaller minority of the voting population.”
The platform did not represent a significant shift in the party’s cross-strait agenda, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director Chow Chi-wai (周志偉) said, adding that it is a continuation of former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policy of maintaining the “status quo.”
Hung, in her address to the congress, took aim at the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例), saying the KMT politicians who are willing to concede on the issue are mistaken.
The KMT’s failure to contest the issue will be construed as a “tacit admission” that the assets are “an abyss of sins,” Hung said, adding that the party merely seeks “fair treatment” in the handling of assets that “made Taiwan great” and “are absolutely not the party’s original sin or shameful in any way.”
The assets issue is a result of the DPP’s “power-grabbing and belligerent nature” that has not changed since it took power, and is an act that “radicalized hatred” against the KMT, resembling a “politically motivated purge,” she said, reiterating that the act is a “betrayal of democracy and the rule of law” and “the shame of Taiwanese democracy.”
Hung said former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) was an example of “pragmatism and selflessness” that party members must “thoroughly educate themselves in,” adding that the “Chiang Ching-kuo path” will lead to the restoration of public trust in the KMT and its return to power.
Although the KMT has made errors that need to be corrected, its hard work made contributions to the nation that did full justice to the land and its people, Hung said, adding that the ROC is “the most precious party asset” that the KMT brought to the people of Taiwan.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
RSS