Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman and New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said that there are no plans for him to visit China.
He also said that a regular forum between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that began in 2005 is set to continue.
On whether there would be a meeting between Chu and CCP secretary-general and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), Chu said that such an event would require party-to-party consultations.
Chu made the remarks upon his return to Taiwan after winding up a five-day visit to Singapore and Hong Kong.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Fan Liqing (范麗青) yesterday said that “we noticed Chairman Chu’s remarks in Hong Kong and we welcome him to visit China at his convenience.”
Fan also said that China is willing to work with the KMT to promote relations between the two parties as well as the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
KMT Culture and Communications Committee director Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said it is only natural for the KMT chairman to attend the forum, although details of a time and venue “are not yet clear.”
Lin said that former KMT chairmen Lien Chan (連戰) and Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄) attended the forum in the past.
Chu, who began his role as KMT chairman on Jan. 19, said at a forum in Hong Kong on Sunday that his party is willing to continue to recognise the so-called “1992 consensus” and continue exchanges with the CCP.
The “1992 consensus” is a term former Mainland Affairs Council minister Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000, referring to a supposed understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what that means.
Chu said he would continue exchanges between the KMT and the CCP, which have been ongoing since 2005, referring to the Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum.
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