China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) said on Thursday that Beijing’s economic policy toward Taiwan is based on a political premise that both sides uphold the so-called “1992 consensus” and are opposed to the idea of Taiwanese independence.
“Without opposition to Taiwan independence and recognition of the ’92 consensus, China might have to reconsider its cross-strait economic policy and measures,” Chen said while dining with senior executives of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland (ATIEM), a Beijing-sanctioned Taiwanese trade group.
Some Chinese political analysts said Chen’s remarks were a veiled warning to Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) that he should refrain from following the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) rhetoric and policy line in handling cross-strait affairs.
During the dinner in Beijing, Chen told ATIEM executives, many of whom are heads of Taiwanese trade associations in major Chinese cities and provinces, that the peaceful development of cross-strait relations “did not spring out of nowhere.”
If the two sides of the Taiwan Strait had not upheld the “1992 consensus” and the “no pursuit of Taiwan independence” stance, he said, cross-strait relations would not reached their present stage.
Although Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) have said Taiwan and China are “brothers,” that brotherhood should be built on the aforesaid premise of “no pursuit of independence” and recognition of the “1992 consensus,” Chen said.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” a term which former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) has admitted making up in 2000, refers to an alleged understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
In an apparent response to DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) recent statement that if her party regained power it would maintain the China policy of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration, Chen said cross-strait issues are not as simple as “paying lip service.”
The Presidential Office did not issue any immediate response to Chen’s remarks.
Several Chinese political academics have said Chen’s statement could be interpreted as a reminder to Ma after the president’s New Year’s Day address, which may have given Beijing cause for concern.
In his speech, Ma said “Taiwan’s future is in the hands of our 23 million people. We decide matters for ourselves. We must steadfastly defend the Republic of China’s sovereignty and work to protect Taiwan’s dignity.”
In the eyes of Beijing leaders, such a discourse closely resembles the DPP’s Resolution on Taiwan’s Future issued 12 years ago, the Chinese scholars said.
Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭), director of the KMT’s Mainland Affairs Department, said Chen’s remarks were mainly aimed at the DPP because the pro-independence party will soon unveil a new policy line with regard to cross-strait engagements.
“Chen was reminding the DPP that Beijing is unlikely to engage with it unless the party publicly recognizes the ‘1992 consensus,’” Chang said.
The DPP maintains that the two sides never reached such a consensus.
DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said Chen’s remarks again validated the DPP’s warning to the KMT administration that China’s “economic concessions” toward Taiwan, like those adopted in the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) are politically motivated.
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