Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Katharine Chang (張小月) yesterday said that the council is working on a new cross-strait policy to replace the so-called “1992 consensus” as part of its efforts to overcome the impasse across the Taiwan Strait.
Chang made the remarks during a meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee in Taipei, which was held to review the council’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year.
At the meeting, People First Party Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔) asked Chang to comment on remarks by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Taiwan Studies head Zhou Zhihuai (周志懷) at an academic forum in China’s Guangxi Province on Nov. 30 that Beijing “does not oppose the idea of the 1992 consensus being substituted by a creative alternative.”
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“Do you interpret such comments as a gesture extending an olive branch? What is the council’s attitude about this?” Chen asked.
Chang said the council holds a positive view of Zhou’s remarks, but believes that only a mindset of “seeking common ground, while maintaining differences” would be conducive to cross-strait development.
“The council will positively and discreetly study [any proposals that can] promote cross-strait development. We are willing to sit down with Beijing at an opportune time to work out a solution,” Chang said.
She added that the council has been studying possible alternatives to the “1992 consensus.”
Cross-strait communication mechanisms have been suspended due to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) refusal to acknowledge the “1992 consensus,” which refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Former MAC chairman Su Chi (蘇起) said in 2006 that he had made up the term in 2000.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Chang said any forms of threat are not helpful to cross-strait ties, in response to reporters’ questions about Chinese air force missions circling Taiwan’s airspace on Nov. 25 and Dec. 10.
“[Beijing] has always adopted a stick-and-carrot approach to Taiwan. There is no type of threat that has a positive effect on cross-strait relations. Our stance is that we should maintain cross-strait peace and stability,” Chang said.
‘UNACCEPTABLE’: The foreign ministry said that China’s behavior broke international law, while Johnny Chiang was worried such balloons could be used against Taiwan A suspected Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the US was yesterday condemned by officials in Taipei and sparked calls for the government to plan countermeasures. The Pentagon on Thursday said it had detected a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the country. Beijing has said the balloon is a civilian meteorological device that drifted into US territory after being blown off course. The National Security Bureau and Ministry of National Defense should investigate whether surveillance balloons could be used against Taiwan and prepare to respond to such acts, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s postponement
INTELLIGENCE VALUE: While the US was working on recovering the balloon’s remains, China said that it reserved ‘the right to make ... necessary responses’ US President Joe Biden’s administration lauded the Pentagon for shooting down an alleged Chinese spy balloon off the US Atlantic coast on Saturday, but China angrily voiced its “strong dissatisfaction” at the move, and said it might make “necessary responses.” The craft spent several days flying over North America before it was targeted off the coast of the southeastern state of South Carolina with a missile fired from an F-22 plane, Pentagon officials said. It fell into relatively shallow water just 14m deep. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the operation a “deliberate and lawful action” that came in response to China’s
RISK FACTOR: ASEAN issued a statement saying the cross-strait situation ‘could lead to miscalculation,’ but it is willing to facilitate dialogue to ensure stability in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed a joint statement by ASEAN leaders voicing concerns that the situation across the Taiwan Strait could affect regional stability. The statement was issued after the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat ended on Saturday in Jakarta. It was the first major meeting since Indonesia assumed chairmanship of ASEAN this year. Attendees of the meeting reiterated their determination to promote “sustainable peace, security, stability, and prosperity within and beyond the region,” the statement said. They expressed concerns about developments across the Taiwan Strait and their “implications on regional stability,” the statement said. The cross-strait situation “could lead to miscalculation, serious
THINK TANK VISIT: The former US Indo-Pacific official said that a capture of Taiwan’s outlying islands by China rather than a large-scale attack is a grave security concern The US and Taiwan can deepen their relations on many fronts, former head of the US Indo-Pacific Command Philip Davidson said yesterday while visiting President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office. Davidson is leading a six-member delegation from the National Bureau of Asian Research, a US-based think tank. They arrived on Monday and are scheduled to depart tomorrow. Tsai met with the delegation yesterday morning, welcoming the organization on its first visit to Taiwan since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the office said in a statement. She thanked Davidson, a retired admiral, for paying close attention to matters regarding the Taiwan