The so-called “1992 consensus” has been the most important foundation for the government in making and carrying out its cross-strait policy, in spite of a “subtle” difference between Taiwan and China in their interpretations of the “consensus,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said on Thursday.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and Beijing that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted in 2000 that he had made up the term “1992 consensus.”
Taipei has insisted that one China means the Republic of China, but Beijing has emphasized its “one China” principle and has intentionally ignored the latter part of the “consensus” — each side is free to interpret what “one China” means.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Deputy Director Li Yafei (李亞飛), while delivering a speech in Taipei on Wednesday, said that the consensus means that both sides agree to orally express respectively that “they both insist on the principle of one China.”
Hsia, at a legislative meeting, was asked by an opposition lawmaker to clarify the difference between Taiwan’s and China’s interpretation of the “1992 consensus.”
Hsia’s deputy, Wu Mei-hung (吳美紅), said at a regular news conference earlier in the day that the government has never accepted Beiing’s interpretation of the “one China principle.”
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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