Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday lauded former premier Frank Hsieh’s (謝長廷) reference to the Republic of China’s (ROC) Constitution during his landmark five-day trip to China, saying the move demonstrated a major departure from the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) long-standing pro-independence stance.
Wu made the remarks after being asked by reporters to comment on Hsieh’s recent China trip prior to his attendance at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Global Peace Convention in Taipei yesterday.
Hsieh, who became the most senior DPP member to meet with high-ranking Chinese officials, said during his meeting on Sunday with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Wang Yi (王毅) that the so-called “1992 consensus” did not exist and that there were alternative options to replace the initiative, such as "constitutions with different interpretations (憲法各表)" .
He also met Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo (戴秉國) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) the same day.
“Whether Hsieh’s remarks only represent his own position, or whether they come to represent the DPP in the future remains to be seen,” Wu said.
Commenting on Hsieh’s denial of the so-called “1992 consensus,” Wu reiterated that the formula referred to the consensus reached during a meeting in 1992 that Taiwan and China will have their own interpretations of the “one China” principle.”
“Because of the “1992 consensus,” the first official cross-strait dialogue — the Ku-Wang talks — were held in 1993 [in Singapore] and that is the proof that the policy does exist,” Wu said.
Wu said that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who also doubles as chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), had instructed him to express his openess to different political parties with diverse political stances during his visits to Beijing in March and July.
“President Ma emphasized the significance of communication and exchange of opinions, which he said could ease misunderstandings and tensions, and most importantly, reduce internal conflicts and help forge consensus,” Wu said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching