Not too much should be read into Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) mention of Taiwan’s Constitution, Soochow University professor and former DPP legislator Julian Kuo (郭正亮) said yesterday.
When asked about the future of cross-strait relations at a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) forum last week, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said that he “hoped and expected” that president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would “accept the provision in Taiwan’s own Constitution that the mainland and Taiwan belong to one, the same China” before taking power on May 20.
While Wang appeared to equate the constitutional provision with Beijing’s “one China” principle, his remarks drew attention because they were reportedly the first time Beijing officials have explicitly mentioned the Constitution instead of referring to “Taiwan’s laws and relevant regulations.”
They also drew notice for mentioning the “political foundation of cross-strait relations” without explicitly referring to the so-called “1992 consensus.”
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Beijing that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Wang’s remarks should not be interpreted over-optimistically, because Beijing’s position has not really shifted, Kuo said
Beijing has always said that the “1992 consensus” is a framework that has validity only between the KMT and Chinese Communist Party, and it accepts that a new frame of reference for cross-strait relations might need to be forged with the DPP, Kuo said, citing a conversation with CSIS analyst Bonnie Glaser.
According to a message passed on by Glaser in 2012, Wang said in closed-door talks that if the DPP refused to acknowledge the “1992 consensus,” China could discuss the possibility of some “new understanding,” Kuo said.
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) assertion that Wang’s remarks are an official acknowledgment of the existence of the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution is an example of him “hearing only what he wanted to hear” which fails to take into consideration the context of Wang’s statement, Kuo said, noting that Wang made no mention that the constitutions and leaders on both sides of the Taiwan Strait had equivalent stature.
In reality, Wang Yi’s remarks only added a new “bottom line” to Beijing’s existing position that “both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China,” and represent an attempt to seize control of the direction of cross-strait relations and pre-emptively absolve itself of responsibility for a possible gridlock, Kuo said.
China is seeking to control how “maintaining the ‘status quo’” should be interpreted and to confine the incoming administration’s ability to maneuver by equating any move away from the “one China constitution” with breaking the “status quo.”
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS