China aims to pursue stable and longstanding cross-strait relations in the wake of its recent leadership transition, and seeks solutions to the bottleneck in cross-strait politics, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Deputy Director Sun Yafu (孫亞夫) said in Taipei yesterday.
Following the Chinese Communist Party’s 18th National Congress, the Chinese government continues to focus its efforts on laying foundations for solid cross-strait development and reducing concerns about military security to bring peace across the Strait, he said, dismissing concerns about reports on a military security confidence-building mechanism and a cross-strait peace agreement at the congress.
“The discussions on the issues are aimed at pursuing longstanding cross-strait relations and strengthening cross-strait exchanges with honesty and goodwill … We also expect that the two sides can share the responsibility of constructing cross-strait relations and peaceful development via a cross-strait peace agreement,” he said at a forum on cross-strait development held in Taipei’s Grand Hotel.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The forum, which invited Sun, politicians and cross-strait academics from across the party lines to discuss new perspectives on cross-strait relations on the 20th anniversary of the so-called “1992 consensus,” was organized by the Chang Ya-Rou Educational Foundation that was set up by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) in memory of his mother.
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) was originally scheduled to attend the forum and meet with Sun, but later canceled and had MAC Deputy Minister Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) attend the event.
Hung Tsai-lung (洪財隆), director of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) China Affairs Department, said his party will strengthen cross-strait exchanges, while urging China to respect the Taiwanese public’s wishes to maintain the “status quo” and defend national sovereignty.
“We will not deny the nation’s sovereignty, and promote cross-strait exchanges in an open and transparent way. Instead of giving a specific name to cross-strait consensus, a consensus reached in a bottom-up model will have a more solid foundation,” he said.
The “1992 consensus” refers to an alleged tacit agreement between Taiwan and China that there is only “one China,” with both sides free to interpret its meaning.
Hung said the DPP would not oppose normal cross-strait exchanges, but would act against “any exchanges under a prerequisite framework.”
Former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) defended the existence of the 1992 consensus and accused the DPP of damaging cross-strait developments.
“The 1992 consensus is a historical truth and it is unnecessary to discuss the issue. The consensus helped the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to put disputes aside and face the reality,” he said.
Former NSC secretary-general Su Chi (蘇起), who has previously admitted that he made up the term in 2000, before the KMT handed over power to the DPP, to break the cross-strait deadlock, said the political mutual trust behind the term is more important.
“Without political mutual trust across the Taiwan Strait, it won’t help with cross-strait relations, even if you talk about the 1992 consensus for 100 times,” he said.
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