Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday held a closed-door forum with eight US academics in Los Angeles to discuss maintaining the cross-strait “status quo.”
Most attendees said the DPP presidential candidate’s proposals made sense, said Clayton Dube, director of the US-China Institute at the University of South California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
However, Dube declined to elaborate on what Tsai discussed.
Photo: Chen Hui-ping, Taipei Times
DPP Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told reporters that “what was discussed will not be made public.”
Asked the US’ view of the so-called “1992 consensus,” Dube said the US accepts whatever is agreed upon and conducted in peaceful means between Taiwan and China.
Stanley Rosen, a USC political science professor and member of the US-China Institute, and Wang Feng (王豐), a sociology professor at the University of California at Irvine, also attended the forum.
Tsai has previously said that maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” means maintaining peace, so both sides can pursue development amid peace and stability.
She has declined to support the “1992 consensus,” saying that the term became popular only in 2000, adding that even those who were involved in the Hong Kong negotiations in 1992 have expressed different views about it, as has former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
Beijing on Wednesday last week said that Tsai had to clarify what she meant by “maintaining the status quo” if she were elected.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton on May 21 said that, regardless of who wins Taiwan’s presidential election next year, the US “hopes to continue our close cooperation, and it must be said that an important ingredient of that close cooperation in recent years has been the stable management of cross-strait ties.”
Tsai arrived in Los Angeles on Friday for a six-city US tour.
On Saturday, she met with US Representative Ted Lieu (劉雲平), a Taiwanese-American whose grandparents still live in Taiwan, to discuss labor-related issues and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
At a dinner party hosted for her by Taiwanese expatriates, Tsai said the focus of her cross-strait policy is maintaining the “status quo,” accenting that peaceful development of cross-strait ties would be her administration’s main goal if she were elected.
“I am not here for an interview,” she said, adding that the common language between Taiwan and the US is “democracy, democracy and democracy.”
The “1992 consensus” refers to a supposed tacit deal between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Beijing that each acknowledges there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old