Guidelines issued by China’s Xinhua news agency banning Chinese media from using “Republic of China (ROC)” and the Taiwanese interpretation of the so-called “1992 consensus” accentuate that the “consensus” is a fabrication and eliminate any gray area in Beijing’s “one China” principle, lawmakers said yesterday.
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 the Chinese government that both sides acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The list also bans Chinese media from using the term “president/vice president of the ROC,” instead instructing them to use “leader/deputy leader of the Taiwan authorities.”
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and KMT chairman-elect Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) “‘one China, different interpretations’ has failed,” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.
“The condition on which Taiwan and China have their respective interpretations of what ‘China’ means never existed. It is political rhetoric that the KMT has used to fool Taiwanese for years,” DPP Legislator Lai Jui-jung (賴瑞隆) said.
That each side of the Taiwan Strait has its own interpretation of what “China” means has been proved false now that Beijing has eliminated any room for ambiguity, he added.
“‘China’ means the People’s Republic of China. The government must not fall under the delusion that ‘one China, different interpretations’ would work like it did for the KMT,” he said.
New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said Beijing’s guidelines banning the use of “one China, different interpretations” are “a slap in the face for the KMT.”
“Beijing is limiting interpretation of cross-strait issues, which shows that the ‘different interpretations’ of the ‘consensus’ have been cut, and to Beijing, the ‘consensus’ is synonymous with ‘one China,’” he said.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration should take countermeasures to stop Beijing’s actions eliminating the ROC, Hsu said.
KMT Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said she hopes that Xinhua would treat the ROC with respect, adding that “the nation is a sovereign state. If things go on like this, it would be detrimental to cross-strait relations.”
KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said that Xinhua had always rejected the ROC, but now it has upped the ante by banning the “different interpretations.”
“The move is a clear warning to Taiwan that China wants to drive cross-strait relations down to freezing point,” he said.
People First Party Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) said the guidelines are observed by Chinese media outlets and Taiwanese should not be restrained by them.
“Whoever Beijing wants to slap or warn with its actions, we need not march to its beat,” she said. “China’s oppression of Taiwan started many years ago. Taiwan should continue to bolster press freedom and democracy.”
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