Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday reiterated that her cross-strait policy is no different from that of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), a day after KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said her policy deviated from the mainstream and that the party has decided to call an extempore congress to consider a new candidate.
Speaking at the World Peace Congress held by the Chinese World and Nation Peace Association, Hung said she is “still the presidential candidate nominated by the KMT.”
Addressing the crowd, Hung said she was “alone on the stage” as the president had just left.
She recounted her candidacy from the first day she registered for the KMT primary.
“I have felt this solitude since the day I registered for the primary, but I have not been alone or lonely, since I have many friends supporting me. Today, there are people who said it felt awkward as they do not know how to address me. It is not. I am the deputy legislative speaker of the Republic of China, and currently still the KMT presidential candidate,” Hung said.
She said that Ma “once publicly stated on television that my cross-strait policy is no different from his.”
“My ‘one China’ is the Republic of China,” she said, adding that Ma’s cross-strait policy has gained people’s trust and reflects mainstream public opinion.
While there is very little difference between her cross-strait policy and Ma’s, hers is “clearer on certain aspects,” Hung said.
She highlighted the need for a peace agreement, saying that to secure the achievements Ma has made in cross-strait relations over the past seven years, there needs to be “a breakthrough and a deepening of the [so-called] ‘1992 consensus.’”
Ma, who left yesterday’s event early, had a chance to shake hands with Hung before leaving. He did not respond to media queries about Hung’s cross-strait policy and whether he would talk her out of the race. He said he would stand by the decision made by KMT headquarters.
Separately, World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce president Jonathan Huang (黃正勝), who is also the head of a Hung supporters’ club within the association, said Hung’s comment on the “eventual unification” with China worries many Taiwanese businesspeople.
“Cross-strait relations should have been the KMT’s forte. Why has it become a problem [for the party], which has aroused the concern of many overseas Taiwanese businesspeople? Why talk about ultimate unification? There is no need to stir up a hornet’s nest,” Huang said.
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