Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) yesterday defended President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) amid growing public discontent over his meeting on Saturday with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), saying that Ma is the first Taiwanese politician to mention the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution in front of a Chinese leader.
Hsia made the remarks at a question-and-answer session at the legislature yesterday morning, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chuang Ruei-hsiung’s (莊瑞雄) criticism of Ma over his failure to publicly mention the “different interpretations” component to the “1992 consensus” at his meeting with Xi in Singapore.
“It is the first time a politician from our nation has spoken of the ROC, the ROC Constitution and the principle of ‘one China, with different interpretations’ in front of Chinese politicians. These terms have never been said more clearly. This is also the only time they have ever been mentioned before such an audience,” Hsia said.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Hsia jumped to Ma’s defense when Chuang accused the council and the president of only attaching importance to the photographs taken during the first official meeting between cross-strait leaders since 1949.
“Who has ever been valiant enough to make reference to the ROC, the ROC Constitution and the ‘one China, with different interpretations’ principle before Chinese politicians? President Ma is the first person to do so,” Hsia said.
Hsia said Ma clearly stated Taiwan’s stance regarding the “1992 consensus” and the “one China, with different interpretations” principle both at the closed-session of the meeting and a post-summit press conference.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
While former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted in 2006 to making up the term in 2000, it has been the KMT’s bedrock for engaging with China.
Hsia also turned down Chuang’s request to make public the complete text of Xi’s remarks at the closed-door session, saying that the council was not in a position to do so.
Asked whether Xi’s statements were too upsetting to be released, Hsia said: “Our remarks were irritating to them, and theirs to us.”
Hsia said it was entirely Ma’s decision to hold a post-summit press conference, while the Chinese only sent Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) to hold theirs, but that there was no question of inequality.
Hsia acknowledged the meeting was arranged hastily, giving his officials a score only close to the passing grade.
He said that the likelihood of a second Ma-Xi meeting was slim given that Ma’s presidency is set to expire on May 19.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake yesterday struck off the coast of Hualien, causing brief transportation disruptions in northern and eastern Taiwan, as authorities said that aftershocks of magnitude 5 or higher could occur over the next three days. The quake, which hit at 7:24pm at a depth of 24.5km, registered an intensity of 4 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. In Taipei, the MRT railway’s operations control center received an earthquake alert and initiated standard safety procedures, briefly halting trains on the Bannan (blue) line for about a minute.
RSS