The People First Party (PFP) on Saturday said that it has not yet been invited to attend this year’s regular meeting between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which it has attended in the past.
Some people have speculated that the party is being intentionally shut out of this year’s meeting, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday next week, because PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) has maintained friendly relations with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party, which has refused to acknowledge the so-called “1992 consensus,” which Beijing says is the foundation for cross-strait communications.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted in 2006 to making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Relations between the PFP and the KMT have also been strained by Soong’s refusal to help the KMT petition the Council of Grand Justices to give a constitutional interpretation on an act targeting the party’s controversial assets.
The Legislative Yuan in July passed the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations (政黨及其附隨組織不當取得財產處理條例) and the KMT has asked the Council of Grand Justices to explain what constitutes an “affiliated organization.”
The request was rejected by the council on Saturday because it was not supported by an adequate number of legislators.
PFP Secretary-General Chin Chin-sheng (秦金生) on Saturday said the party has not received any information regarding next month’s KMT and CCP meeting, however, he said the party is “not worried about it.”
Chin attended last year’s meeting held in Shanghai along with then-KMT chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Chairman Lin Pin-kuan (林炳坤).
In the past, invitations to attend the meeting were extended by the CCP, Chin said, adding that so far the PFP has not been contacted.
KMT Mainland Affairs Department director Huang Ching-hsien (黃清賢) said this year’s meeting is to focus on civic interests, and the CCP and KMT are each to invite 10 organizations to participate in the talks.
He said that the KMT’s invitees include members of its think tank, the National Policy Foundation, the 21st Century Foundation, the National Farmers’ Association, the Chinese Federation of Labor, as well as members of six other organizations.
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