While cross-strait relations are at their “worst ever,” Straits Exchange Foundation chairman-designate Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) said he remains optimistic, because China’s top leaders have yet to clearly state a position on the resumption of talks.
Tien said during a radio interview on Monday that he remains “hopeful there is still room” for talks, and that he believes his experience engaging in talks with then-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Jiang Zemin (江澤民) would help with diplomacy with Beijing.
Tien said he was invited by senior Chinese official Wang Zhaoguo (王兆國) to meet with Jiang in Beijing, where he discussed that year’s APEC summit, asking that Beijing not oppose then-president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) attendance.
Tien said he believed his meeting with Jiang would help his work with China on behalf of the SEF, because of how Beijing views people who have met its top leaders.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has not stated his position, which Tien said is a reason for optimism.
There are many practical issues that Taiwan and China need to work together on, including Taiwanese businesses in China and the implementation of the Cross-Strait Agreement on Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance (兩岸合作打擊犯罪協議), Tien said.
The SEF is not the government entity tasked with dealing with policy at the highest level, but it can create an environment that encourages productive exchanges by ironing out misunderstandings, he said.
Tien urged Xi to use the upcoming plenary session of the CCP Central Committee to “reflect deeply on the cross-strait issue and make decisions that show goodwill and allow the cross-strait relationship to move forward.”
Asked to comment on China’s Taiwan Affairs Office’s refusal to resume talks with Taiwan until President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) recognizes the so-called “1992 consensus,” Tien said he does not think the office represents Xi’s position on the matter.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) said he made up in 2000, refers to a purported understanding between the CCP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) acknowledging that there is “one China, with each side having its own interpretation of what that means.”
Tien said his views on the subject — which is consistent with the position of the Tsai administration — is that he acknowledges that a meeting between the KMT and CCP took place in Hong Kong in 1992, and that he hopes for an opportunity to communicate with Chinese officials further on the issue.
“Whether we should use the term ‘1992 consensus’ or ‘1992 summit’ is a controversy that I wish a solution or an alternative that respects the position of both sides could be arrived at,” he said.
“Neither side should adopt a term that is totally unacceptable to the other,” he said.
When pushed on whether he supports founding an independent Taiwanese state, Tien said: “Is the Republic of China not already an independent state?”
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