President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday met with more than 100 Facebook users in Greater Kaohsiung as part of a campaign effort to attract support from the growing numbers of netizens, inviting the public to share their opinions on social and political issues with him via social networking sites.
Ma, who is seeking re--election in January, discussed the economy, cross-strait policy and foreign policy with netizens at the “E-National Affairs Forum,” the first of five meetings arranged by Ma’s campaign office to boost the president’s support among netizens.
Four more meetings will be held around the country this month. Ma’s campaign office said the forums would give the president a chance to meet his Facebook fans.
Photo: CNA
One of the issues raised during the meeting included the recent debate on the existence of the so-called “1992 consensus” and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) proposed “Taiwan consensus.”
Answering questions on whether the “1992 consensus” exists, Ma discussed its historical background and insisted that a consensus was reached in August 1992 during a meeting of the National Unification Commission and that “one China” refers to the Republic of China (ROC).
The term “1992 consensus” was added to describe the context, Ma said, saying that the consensus, which means “one China, with each side having its own interpretation” did exist.
He challenged Tsai to explain the context of her newly touted “Taiwan consensus,” while defending his administration’s efforts to cross-strait peace.
“Nobody knows what ‘Taiwan consensus’ means. It’s like selling a pre-sale house. They tell you it will be an ideal home, but fail to provide any further details about the house. In such a situation you would be smart to think it over before deciding to buy that house,” he said.
The forum is one of the latest efforts by Ma’s re-election campaign to attract support from netizens, who are mainly from younger generations.
Ma’s Facebook page has attracted more than 1 million fans since it was launched on Jan. 28. His campaign office also set up Google+, Twitter and Plurk pages for the president as social networking media has become a major campaign tool.
Ma yesterday thanked Facebook users for the many different responses posted on his Facebook page, and said their responses would not be ignored.
“Facebook provides a great platform for me to understand public reaction to national policies. It can also help reach forge public consensus and promote developments in society,” he said.
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