Mon, Mar 06, 2006 page3

• NUC debate highlights pan-blues' lack of clear discourse on cross-strait issues

  UNDECIDED? KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou went from "unification or nothing," to independence being an option, to backing the status quo in a matter of weeks

  • By Mo Yan-chih / STAFF REPORTER
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  The pan-blue camp's lack of a clear discourse on cross-strait issues was highlighted during the recent uproar over the National Unification Council (NUC), local political observers said.

  President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) last Tuesday signed a document ordering that the council would "cease to function" and that the National Unification Guidelines would "cease to apply."

  In reaction, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed a motion in the legislature to recall Chen, and the People First Party (PFP) proposed a motion to impeach the president.

  Under current regulations, both motions need the approval of two-thirds of the legislature.

  As the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) holds more than one-third of the seats in the legislature, it is practically impossible for either motion to be passed.

  Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), a political analyst at National Chengchi University, said the US' acceptance of Chen's move had frustrated the pan-blue camp and make it difficult for the KMT and PFP to bring any of their counterattack plans into full play.

  "Both motions are merely symbolic, and the pan-blue camp knows it. There isn't much they can do with regard to this issue," Ku told the Taipei Times.

  KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also acknowledged that the impeachment bid is "unlikely" to succeed, given the vote threshold required. But the opposition leader insisted on supporting the motions in order to express the pan-blue camp's disapproval of Chen.

  Kao Yuang-kuang (高永光), dean of the social science college at National Chengchi University, said he agreed with Ma that opposition parties need to show their disapproval in order to live up to the expectations of pan-blue supporters.

  But the opposition should also take the opportunity to update its cross-strait discourse and to reflect the will of its "middle-course" stance, he said.

  "Cross-strait relations are constantly changing and new interpretations are necessary. The so-called `1992 consensus,' for example, drew great controversy, and so it would be good for the pan-blues to come up with a new discourse," he said.

  According to the KMT, the `1992 consensus' means that there is "one China, with each side having its own interpretation," but the government refuses to recognize the existence of such a "consensus," claiming that it never appeared in any official letters exchanged between China and Taiwan.

  Ku said the issue of the NUC provided an opportunity for the pan-blue camp to redefine its cross-strait stance and policy.

  "The pan-blue camp needs to answer a question: What does its unification discourse mean? Does it mean that Taiwan should unify China? Or that Taiwan is to be unified by China?" Ku said.

  As the opposition leader, Ma's recent contradictory rhetoric -- from "unification with China is the ultimate goal of the KMT" to "independence is an option for Taiwan's future" to "Taiwan should maintain the status quo" -- probably best illustrates the party's need for a distinct cross-strait discourse to make clear what the KMT really stands for, Ku said.

  "Ma stumbled over the NUC issue and made his party and other pan-blue allies look bad. He must develop clearer opinions on the party's stance on cross-strait relations if he is to continue as the opposition leader," Ku said.

  Emile Sheng (盛治仁), a professor of political science at Soochow University, predicted the president will not make any major moves in the wake of scrapping the NUC, except for the possibility that he would further decide to drop the "four noes" and to push for de jure independence.

  De jure independence would require amending the Statute Governing the Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例).

  With the opposition parties holding a majority in the legislature, Kao said it is unnecessary for them to enter into a debate over the issue of de facto independence with the president.

  As to speculation that Chen's decision on the NUC was prompted by his desire to boost his own reputation and the strength of the DPP ahead of the year-end elections, critics said the public's disappointment with both parties made it hard to tell if either had benefited.
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