Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Katharine Chang (張小月) yesterday said that the council is working on a new cross-strait policy to replace the so-called “1992 consensus” as part of its efforts to overcome the impasse across the Taiwan Strait.
Chang made the remarks during a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee in Taipei, which was held to review the council’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year.
At the meeting, People First Party Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) asked Chang to comment on remarks by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Taiwan Studies head Zhou Zhihuai (周志懷) at an academic forum in China’s Guangxi Province on Nov. 30 that Beijing “does not oppose the idea of the 1992 consensus being substituted by a creative alternative.”
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“Do you interpret such comments as a gesture extending an olive branch? What is the council’s attitude about this?” Chen asked.
Chang said the council holds a positive view of Zhou’s remarks, but believes that only a mindset of “seeking common ground, while maintaining differences” would be conducive to cross-strait development.
“The council will positively and discreetly study [any proposals that can] promote cross-strait development. We are willing to sit down with Beijing at an opportune time to work out a solution,” Chang said.
She added that the council has been studying possible alternatives to the “1992 consensus.”
Cross-strait communication mechanisms have been suspended due to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) refusal to acknowledge the “1992 consensus,” which refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Former MAC chairman Su Chi (蘇起) said in 2006 that he had made up the term in 2000.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Chang said any forms of threat are not helpful to cross-strait ties, in response to reporters’ questions about Chinese air force missions circling Taiwan’s airspace on Nov. 25 and Dec. 10.
“[Beijing] has always adopted a stick-and-carrot approach to Taiwan. There is no type of threat that has a positive effect on cross-strait relations. Our stance is that we should maintain cross-strait peace and stability,” Chang said.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
A group affiliated with indicted Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) is to be dissolved for monitoring Chinese immigrants in Taiwan, a source said yesterday. Xu, the secretary-general of the Cross-Strait Marriage and Family Service Alliance, was indicted on March 24 on charges of violating the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法). The alliance “illegally monitored" Chinese immigrants living in Taiwan on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Ministry of the Interior is expected to dissolve the organization in the coming days under provisions of the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法), the source said. Xu, who married a Taiwanese in 1993 and became a Republic
RSS