Sat, Apr 05, 2008 page3

• Ma forgetting his vows: groups

  CONCERNED The president of the Southern Taiwan Society said that accepting any principle based on the “one China” policy meant saying Taiwan is part of China

  • By Shih Hsiu-chuan / STAFF REPORTER
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  Pro-independence groups yesterday criticized president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), accusing him of breaking his election pledges to safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty by accepting the idea that each side of the Taiwan Strait should be entitled to have its own interpretation of “one China.”

  “We were touched when we heard Ma say he would defend Taiwan’s sovereignty with his life. However, sovereignty is not something Ma will be able to defend by sacrificing his life if [Taiwan] falls into this trap,” Northern Taiwan Society deputy director Janice Chen (陳昭姿) said at a press conference co-hosted with other pro-independence groups.

  Ma has said he would resume talks with China if Beijing accepts the principle of “one China, with each side having its own interpretation.”

  He also expressed optimism after a telephone conversation between Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and US President George W. Bush late last month.

  Hu reportedly indicated in the phone conversation that he would be willing to reopen cross-strait talks on the basis of the so-called “1992 consensus,” which states that both sides agree to allow separate interpretations of “one China” on the two sides of the Strait.

  The “1992 consensus” is not universally recognized as valid in Taiwan.

  However, as Chinese state-run media have not reported that Hu and Bush broached the idea of separate interpretations during their conversation, Ma, who says Beijing agreed to the principle in 1992, said he would seek more information on the content of the conversation.

  At yesterday’s press conference, the pro-independence groups urged the public to “be ready to take to streets” if Ma agrees to the idea of “one China” with separate interpretations.

  “Some people might think the idea harmless if Taiwan can benefit from engaging with China, but the danger is that the ‘Taiwan issue’ will be considered by the international community to be China’s `internal affair,’” Northern Taiwan Society president Chang Shyue-Yih (張學逸) said.

  Southern Taiwan Society president Cheng Cheng-iok (鄭正煜) said that accepting a consensus based on the “one China” policy was no different than agreeing with Beijing that Taiwan is part of China.

  China’s definition of “one China” is that “there is only one China in the world, the People’s Republic of China being its sole legal government, and Taiwan is part of it,” Cheng said, adding that this leaves no room for Taiwan to have its own interpretation.

  “If it is not that Ma is stupid enough to fall into this political trap set by China, it must be that Ma is so shrewd that he has devised this trick to dupe the public into believing that Taiwan could have its own definition of ‘one China’ [under the consensus],” he said.

  Taiwan Hakka Society president Chang Yeh-shen (張葉森) urged Ma not to accept the “1992 consensus” without challenging Beijing’s definition of what “one China” means.

  Central Taiwan Society president Michael Tai (戴正德) said Ma’s talk of the “consensus” ran counter to his campaign promise that the nation’s future would be decided by the 23 million people of Taiwan alone and not by China.

  “Taiwan’s public, we have to prepare. If Ma accepts [this principle] we need to come forward and defend Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity,” Tai said.
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