Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman-elect Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) has stressed the so-called “1992 consensus” in his first interaction with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sent a congratulatory letter to Wu 90 minutes after the KMT announced the result of chairperson election on Saturday evening.
Sources said that prior to receiving the letter, the KMT was worried it would not be sent, as Beijing reportedly disapproved of the former vice president due to his emphasis of the “different interpretations” element of the “1992 consensus” and his statement that the KMT should not mention unification.
The “1992 consensus” — a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) said that he made up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Wu had previously criticized a KMT “peace charter” approved last year under KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) for the charter’s omission of the “different interpretations” part of the “1992 consensus.”
Wu has also on several occasions said that “different interpretations” is a necessary entailment of the “1992 consensus” and questioned Hung’s policy of pursuing a peace agreement with Beijing.
In the congratulatory letter, Xi rehashed the “1992 consensus” and urged opposition to Taiwanese independence.
“Since 2008, both the KMT and the CCP have worked for peaceful cross-strait development on a common political basis with fruitful results. The cross-strait peace is now fraught with challenges. The two parties should commit themselves to the well-being of people on the both sides, insist on the ‘1992 consensus’ and oppose Taiwanese independence,” it said.
In his reply, Wu wrote: “It is anticipated that both the CCP and the KMT will continue to deepen the ‘1992 consensus’ and institutionalize peace across the Taiwan Strait.”
“In 1992, the KMT and the CCP reached the conclusion that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should adhere to the ‘one China’ principle, but both sides orally agreed to make its own interpretation of what that means. It is based on this consensus that a negotiation mechanism has been institutionalized, agreements have been signed following years of effort and [Taiwan-China relations] have progressed from confrontation to peaceful development,” Wu wrote.
“With hindered communication across the strait, I will lead the party to take on the responsibility to protect and ensure the personal well-being, rights, social and economic exchange, and cultural transmission for people on both sides,” he wrote.
The CCP began sending congratulatory letters to the KMT chairperson-elect in July 1988, when the term “cross-strait interaction” was first adopted in the KMT national congress.
Then-CCP general secretary Zhao Ziyang (趙紫陽) sent a congratulatory letter to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) for his KMT chair victory following the decades-long rule by former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son, Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
Even in the aftermath of the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) sent a congratulatory letter to Lee in 1997 when he was re-elected as KMT chairman, but the form of address was changed from “CCP Secretary-General to KMT Chairperson” to “CCP Central Committee to KMT Central Committee.”
The form of address has been maintained to avoid recognition of the dual identities of CCP secretary-general and KMT chairperson as the presidents of China and Taiwan.
Jiang in 2001 sent another congratulatory letter to former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) when he was elected KMT chairman, with Lien’s name written out as a show of respect.
Former Chinese president Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in 2005 sent a chair election congratulatory letter to former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was the first to reply to a CCP congratulatory letter.
Ma was referred to as “mister” in Hu’s letter, which it repeated when former KMT chairmen Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and Eric Chu (朱立倫) were elected.
When Hung was elected as the KMT’s first female leader last year, Xi addressed her with the honorific version of “you.”
However, in Saturday’s letter, Wu was addressed with the non-honorific “you,” a change that has given rise to speculation.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
RSS