Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Su Chi (
Su said he invented the term in order to break the cross-strait deadlock and alleviate tension.
"[Then president] Lee Teng-hui (
Su made the remarks yesterday in response to Lee who, during a Taiwan Solidarity Union seminar on Monday, said that the so-called "1992 consensus" was a fiction.
"Little monkey boy's trying to make up history," Lee said of Su, daring him to respond on the matter.
When asked by reporters for a response yesterday, Su said he did invent the term, which was meant to encourage observers to think that "each side has its own interpretation on the meaning of `one China.'"
The term "1992 consensus" is controversial. The KMT has insisted on the existence of a "consensus" between Taiwan and China during a meeting in Hong Kong in November 1992 that both sides should adhere to the "one China" principle.
Since the term appeared, however, the DPP government has insisted that no such consensus existed.
Stating that "no consensus" was reached on the definition of "one China" during the 1992 meeting, President Chen Shui-bian (
Su said he made up the term "1992 consensus" as a replacement for the expression "each side with its own interpretation" in order to benefit cross-strait development.
"The wording `each side with its own interpretation' of the `one China' principle" had been used from 1992 to 2000. But China didn't like the `each side with its own interpretation' part and the DPP government didn't like the part that said `one China,'" Su said.
"On account of these differences and the fact they could have led to more cross-strait tension after the DPP took power, I suggested the new term as a common point that was acceptable to both sides so that Taiwan and China could keep up cross-strait exchanges," he said.
Su said he initially thought the term could contribute to a resumption of cross-strait negotiations and did not think that it would be unacceptable to the DPP government.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on