The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.”
The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧).
Wang said the Straits Forum is an important platform for expanding civil exchanges and deepening integrated development across the Taiwan Strait.
Photo courtesy of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation
Over the past few years, many challenges have been overcome to hold the forum, demonstrating the bloodline and kinship of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and that no force can stop their willingness to exchange, he said.
“Mr. Ma Ying-jeou” is well-known for having national sentiment, agreeing that people on both sides of the Strait are Chinese, being committed to the so-called “1992 consensus,” opposing Taiwanese independence, and being a pro-unification patriot in Taiwan who continues to strive for the nation’s unification and the rejuvenation of the Zhonghua minzu (中華民族, Chinese ethnic group), he said.
The “1992 consensus” — a term former MAC chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the CCP that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Ma said no political force can suppress or block the genuine exchanges between people on both sides of the Strait, nor cut off the natural emotions of “Chinese people on both sides of the Strait.”
The key to the development of future cross-strait relationships lies in the common aspiration of the people, he said.
Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration,” he said, adding that he looks forward to both sides of the Strait further deepening cooperation on the foundations of the “1992 consensus” and “anti-independence,” replacing confrontation with exchanges and conflict with negotiation, and do everything possible to avoid a war.
The MAC said it is a generally accepted fact that the Straits Forum is part of the CCP’s “united front” platform, and since the government has repeatedly reminded the public of the CCP’s political intentions, attendance of local government officials and representatives from various sectors has significantly declined.
The MAC said it deeply regrets that Ma, a former president, echoed the CCP’s “one China” principle and “1992 consensus” ideologies, and “united front” operations at the forum.
Ma has become disoriented and expressed an opinion that is completely different from the Taiwanese public’s understanding of cross-strait relations and their stance of maintaining the “status quo,” it said.
Anyone from Taiwan attending exchange events in China should uphold Taiwan’s sovereign dignity and the interests of Taiwanese, it added.
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