The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) national congress yesterday adopted new policy platforms that include enhancing the so-called “1992 consensus” on the basis of the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution and exploring possibilities for ending cross-strait hostility through the pursuit of a peace accord.
The congress, meeting at the Zhongshan Hall on Yangmingshan in Taipei, passed the platforms following a speech by KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), who characterized the measures as necessary to combat the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “pro-independence party constitution” and “de-sinicization agenda.”
The amendments were drafted as a response to the January presidential and legislative elections and sources said Hung had backed the changes as a part of her reform package, meant to adjust the party’s strategy to its status as an opposition party with a legislative minority.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
The master agenda is to carry out “honest reflections and bold reforms,” while the revised policy platform is to clarify the party line on issues encompassing diplomacy, cross-strait issues, democratization, economics, education and judicial affairs.
The party is to facilitate cross-strait exchanges and pursue a peace accord with China, while the “1992 consensus” is to be consolidated on the basis of the Constitution, it said.
However, unlike the platform adopted in July last year under then-KMT chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), in which the text clearly included “the 1992 consensus with ‘one China’ and each side having its own interpretation,” the platform passed yesterday left out “one China, with each side having its own interpretation.”
Former KMT lawmaker Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 said that he had made up the term “1992 consensus” in 2000 when he was head of the Mainland Affairs Council.
The new platform said the KMT would “exercise initiatives to explore the possibility to end cross-strait hostilities” via a peace agreement, and ensure the welfare of Taiwanese by “playing an institutionalized role” in promoting peace.
KMT Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), the former legislative speaker, said before the congress that the inclusion of a peace accord would offer Taiwanese and the government a vision and a potential option, which everyone can discuss and build a consensus upon.
A survey carried out by the party showed that 51.5 percent of respondents approved of the new policy platform, while 20.2 percent were opposed to it, KMT Central Policy Committee director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said.
However, former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said before the congress: “I always insist that the words ‘1992 consensus’ must never be separated from the words, ‘one China, with each side having its own interpretation.’”
KMT Youth League head and Central Standing Committee member Hsiao Ching-yan (蕭敬嚴) also dissented over the omission of the phrase, saying the new version “pandered to an even smaller minority of the voting population.”
The platform did not represent a significant shift in the party’s cross-strait agenda, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director Chow Chi-wai (周志偉) said, adding that it is a continuation of former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policy of maintaining the “status quo.”
Hung, in her address to the congress, took aim at 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), saying the KMT politicians who are willing to concede on the issue are mistaken.
The KMT’s failure to contest the issue will be construed as a “tacit admission” that the assets are “an abyss of sins,” Hung said, adding that the party merely seeks “fair treatment” in the handling of assets that “made Taiwan great” and “are absolutely not the party’s original sin or shameful in any way.”
The assets issue is a result of the DPP’s “power-grabbing and belligerent nature” that has not changed since it took power, and is an act that “radicalized hatred” against the KMT, resembling a “politically motivated purge,” she said, reiterating that the act is a “betrayal of democracy and the rule of law” and “the shame of Taiwanese democracy.”
Hung said former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) was an example of “pragmatism and selflessness” that party members must “thoroughly educate themselves in,” adding that the “Chiang Ching-kuo path” will lead to the restoration of public trust in the KMT and its return to power.
Although the KMT has made errors that need to be corrected, its hard work made contributions to the nation that did full justice to the land and its people, Hung said, adding that the ROC is “the most precious party asset” that the KMT brought to the people of Taiwan.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
DEEP-STRIKE CAPABILITY: The scenario simulated a PLA drill that turned into an assault on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, with the launchers providing fire support Taiwan yesterday conducted this year’s first military exercises at Longsiang Base in Taichung, demonstrating the newly acquired High Mobility Artillery Rocket System’s (HIMARS) ability to provide fire support and deep-strike capabilities. The scenario simulated an attack on Penghu County, with HIMARS trucks immediately rolling into designated launch areas and firing barrages at the Wangan (望安) and Cimei (七美) islands, simulating the provision of fire support against invading forces. The HIMARS are supposed to “fire and leave,” which would significantly increase personnel and equipment survivability, a military official said. The drill simulated an exercise launched by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern
RSS