The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) cross-strait policy is not decided solely by any of the party’s former or incumbent spokespeople, KMT Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said yesterday as he urged party members to put its new policy platform above anything else.
Tsai’s remarks at a news conference in Taipei came one day after former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) reportedly got into a heated debate over the content of the so-called “1992 consensus” at a banquet hosted by Ma.
“The KMT is a democratic political party and no one’s words alone can decide the party’s cross-strait policy, be they those of Ma, Hung or anyone else,” said Tsai, who earlier this week was named KMT spokesman.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
KMT members’ sole guiding principle should be the party’s policy platform passed by the KMT national congress at the beginning of last month, which aims to further the “1992 consensus,” explore the possibility of inking a cross-strait peace accord and institutionalize peace across the Taiwan Strait, Tsai said.
KMT members at all levels are required to comply with and jointly promote the new policy platform; there is no other rhetoric that outweighs its importance, Tsai said.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and Beijing that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) said in 2006 that he had made up the term in 2000.
The party’s new platform has been seen as an attempt by Hung to move the KMT closer to the concept of “one China, same interpretation,” as it only mentions the “different interpretations” part once, when talking about Ma’s success in deepening cross-strait interactions during his time in office.
It omits what the pan-blue camp regards as an integral element in the political framework in following mentions in the platform, triggering concerns within the KMT that Hung might propose the framework of “one China, same interpretation” when she meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), which is expected to occur on Tuesday next week in Beijing.
There is no doubt that the “1992 consensus” includes the “one China, different interpretations” part, Tsai said, adding that it is a historical fact and a basic position laid down in the KMT’s policy platform.
As for concerns revolving around the “one China, same interpretation” formula, Tsai said Hung has not mentioned the framework since it came under fire during her campaign as the KMT’s presidential candidate last year.
“The KMT has never passed any documents that contain that framework, nor is it included in the party’s policy platform,” Tsai added.
Ma’s office issued a statement later in the day saying that Ma was merely trying to reiterate that an adherence to the “1992 consensus” and the “one China, different interpretations” formula was the KMT’s fundamental and consistent stance.
He was not trying to start a war of words, it said.
“Ma believes that the issue greatly concerns the KMT’s solidarity and development, which was why he explained the issue to the guests at the dinner,” it said.
It went on to encourage Tsai to, under the principle of the “1992 consensus” and “one China, with different interpretations,” to announce at a news conference before or after Hung’s meeting with Xi that “one China” means the Republic of China (ROC) and that both sides of the Taiwan Strait be peacefully unified under the ROC.
VIGILANCE: While two of the cases are family members of a nurse, there is no sign of community spread and the source of infection is identifiable, the CECC said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported four new domestic COVID-19 cases associated with a cluster infection at a Taoyuan hospital. Since the first case was identified on Tuesday last week, five healthcare workers — two doctors and three nurses — at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Taoyuan General Hospital have tested positive for the virus. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that two of the four new cases are the husband and daughter of a nurse (case No. 863) who had earlier been confirmed to have COVID-19. The husband (case No. 864)
INCURSION: After 13 PLA aircraft flew into Taiwan’s ADIZ, the US Department of State said that China should rather ‘engage in meaningful dialogue’ with Taiwan US President Joe Biden’s administration on Saturday urged China to stop placing military pressure on Taiwan, while calling on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to engage in peaceful dialogue. The statement by the US Department of State was issued after 13 Chinese military aircraft flew into Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, the highest number observed in a single day this year, the Ministry of National Defense said. The air force scrambled fighter jets to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issuing radio warnings and mobilizing air defense assets until the planes left the ADIZ. The US “notes
CHANGE OF GUARD: Hsiao Bi-khim’s attendance at Joe Biden’s inauguration will come as a boost to those in Taiwan who feared that the new US administration would be less friendly than that of Donald Trump to the nation Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) is to attend US President Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol after she was invited by the US Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, a news release issued by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the US said last night. The news came as a surprise as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been reticent about the matter, while Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members had accused the Democratic Progressive Party administration of hedging its bets on the Republican Party. Asked about when Hsiao received the invitation, the ministry did not
FAMILY UNIT: The CECC warned that the eldest sister of the latest case, who also has COVID-19, visited Taoyuan’s Chungping evening market on Tuesday and Wednesday The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported a domestic case of COVID-19, associated with a recent cluster infection at Taoyuan General Hospital, and two imported cases. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the latest case (No. 885) is a woman in her 50s, who is the third daughter of case No. 881, a man in his 90s. The woman is the main caregiver of her elderly father, who had been hospitalized earlier this month and was treated by a nurse (case No. 852) from Monday to Thursday last week, he said, adding that
RSS