Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members are divided over a proposed abolition of the party’s annual forum with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has taken place since former KMT chairman Lien Chan’s (連戰) “journey of peace” visit to China in 2005.
The proposal was tabled by former KMT secretary-general Lee Shu-chuan (李四川) in a party reform proposal submitted to KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) late last month.
In the report, Lee called the annual forum — officially referred to as the Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum — “political pageantry,” saying it should be replaced by the establishment of a service center for China-based Taiwanese businesspeople in Beijing.
New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who nominated Lee as the party’s secretary-general after assuming the KMT chairmanship in January last year, yesterday said that the possibility of transforming the cross-strait forum had already been touched upon during last year’s forum.
“Preliminary efforts were made to transform the forum last year. We hope Hung and leaders in Beijing can make some adjustments, as different stages of cross-strait interaction have different missions and should therefore be handled in a different manner,” said Chu, who led a delegation to the 10th KMT-CCP forum in Shanghai in May last year.
Chu said that last year the goal was to prevent the forum from descending into political pageantry and focus on problems concerning communicating with young people.
As the KMT is now the opposition party, the party should exchange opinions with Beijing on livelihood problems, Chu said.
“[KMT-CCP exchanges] can still be conducted in the manner of a forum, but should not be as large as before,” he said.
However, former KMT legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) opposed Lee’s proposal, saying that the KMT would not have a future if it continues to be “the Democratic Progressive Party’s [DPP] parrot.”
“In past years, KMT members have been too simpleminded to counterattack the DPP’s attempts to put a pro-China red hat on their party. Gradually, the KMT has lost its central ideas and has seen its fundamental beliefs become blurred,” Tsai said.
Former KMT vice chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) also urged the KMT not to abrogate the KMT-CCP forum, saying the party should instead step up its efforts to increase the benefits of cross-strait engagement and let them be shared by all Taiwanese.
“Despite being marked by efforts to strive for Taiwan’s interests, past KMT-CCP forums have indeed painted the KMT as being ‘China-leaning.’ However, it is not the cross-strait forum that has stopped the economic benefits of cross-trait ties from being equally shared,” Hau said.
Hau said in order to regain public recognition, the KMT should continue to tap into its strong suit, which is dealing with cross-trait relations and to make improvements where necessary.
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