When the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) vice presidential candidate, Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), spoke at National United University in Miaoli County on Dec. 19, a student asked him how anyone could negotiate with China about the so-called “1992 consensus” when there was no consensus.
Jaw said that the “consensus” is a matter of each side — The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan — saying what it wants, and you can think of it as an “open sesame.”
He said there is no need to worry about what the “consensus” really is, because when upon shouting “open sesame,” the door would open.
Since the Democratic Progressive Party got into government, it has insisted on asking Beijing whether the “consensus” means the ROC, which is what has caused a stalemate between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, he said.
In the fable Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, “open sesame” is a magic spell used to open the door of a cave full of hidden treasure.
Ali Baba is a woodcutter. One day, when he is out gathering wood, he discovers a cave full of treasure hidden there by a band of thieves. Ali Baba overhears the chief of the robbers shouting “open sesame,” upon which a hidden door swings open, and it swings shut again when he shouts “close sesame.”
Ali Baba waits until the thieves leave, whereupon he opens the cave door by shouting “open sesame.” Having gained access to the cave, he carries away enough gold and jewels to make him rich.
By chance, his brother Kassim finds out what happened and goes on his own to the cave where the treasure is hidden, but in his excitement he forgets the password, gets locked inside the cave, and is found and killed by the thieves.
Judging by Jaw’s analogy, the KMT wants to repeat former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) trick of getting China to open its doors by shouting “open sesame.” What it does not realize is that the robber chief has long since changed his predecessor’s system. The old conditions of saying “open sesame” to open up the door were clearly not enough to tell whether the person saying it was “Ali Baba” or one of the “thieves,” so the “open sesame” password has been changed.
If the KMT tries to use the “open sesame” of 1992, it would not open the door of China’s cave.
Even if the KMT gets hold of the new password, it would find the cave full of tumbling real-estate prices, soaring unemployment, the risk of a financial crisis and problems left over from three years of COVID-19 lockdowns.
What would anyone who enters the cave see? A vault full of treasure or a pile of junk?
All Taiwanese should be cautious about setting foot inside.
Moreover, the thieves are not as gullible as the KMT seems to think. They keep making changes. If the KMT makes the slightest mistake, it might get shut inside the cave and killed by the thieves like the unfortunate Kassim.
Jaw’s analogy linking “open sesame” and the “1992 consensus” reveals how, for him and his “blue fighters,” the “consensus” is not really a political expression of “one China,” but merely a password to get into China and do business there.
Li Ta-yu is a freelancer who lives in Hsinchu City.
Translated by Julian Clegg
A gap appears to be emerging between Washington’s foreign policy elites and the broader American public on how the United States should respond to China’s rise. From my vantage working at a think tank in Washington, DC, and through regular travel around the United States, I increasingly experience two distinct discussions. This divergence — between America’s elite hawkishness and public caution — may become one of the least appreciated and most consequential external factors influencing Taiwan’s security environment in the years ahead. Within the American policy community, the dominant view of China has grown unmistakably tough. Many members of Congress, as
After declaring Iran’s military “gone,” US President Donald Trump appealed to the UK, France, Japan and South Korea — as well as China, Iran’s strategic partner — to send minesweepers and naval forces to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. When allies balked, the request turned into a warning: NATO would face “a very bad” future if it refused. The prevailing wisdom is that Trump faces a credibility problem: having spent years insulting allies, he finds they would not rally when he needs them. That is true, but superficial, as though a structural collapse could be caused by wounded feelings. Something
Former Taipei mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) founding chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Thursday, making headlines across major media. However, another case linked to the TPP — the indictment of Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) for alleged violations of the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) on Tuesday — has also stirred up heated discussions. Born in Shanghai, Xu became a resident of Taiwan through marriage in 1993. Currently the director of the Taiwan New Immigrant Development Association, she was elected to serve as legislator-at-large for the TPP in 2023, but was later charged with involvement
Out of 64 participating universities in this year’s Stars Program — through which schools directly recommend their top students to universities for admission — only 19 filled their admissions quotas. There were 922 vacancies, down more than 200 from last year; top universities had 37 unfilled places, 40 fewer than last year. The original purpose of the Stars Program was to expand admissions to a wider range of students. However, certain departments at elite universities that failed to meet their admissions quotas are not improving. Vacancies at top universities are linked to students’ program preferences on their applications, but inappropriate admission
RSS