Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday reiterated the government’s stance that it has no objection to China claiming sovereignty over the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), referring to the Republic of China’s (ROC) Constitution, which states China is still considered a territory of the ROC.
Wu made the remarks on the legislative floor while fielding questions from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃).
The Diaoyutais are claimed by Taiwan, China and Japan.
Chen, referring to a document provided by the Government -Information Office that summarized a meeting held on Sept. 29 at the Presidential Office on the Diaoyutais issue, accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government of forfeiting sovereignty over the disputed islands by agreeing with China’s sovereignty claims.
The document said the government’s basic position, in the context of the ROC’s relations with China, is that the ROC has a territorial claim over the Diaoyutais and believes that the territorial dispute should be resolved through peaceful means, and not in concert with the Chinese communist government.
The document said that the government does not dispute China’s territorial claims to the islands because China is still part of the ROC as Article 4 of the ROC Constitution states: “The territory of the Republic of China, according to its existing national boundaries, shall not be altered except by resolution of the National Assembly.”
It also said that there is no dispute with China over territorial claims to the Diaoyutais under the so-called “1992 consensus.”
Wu yesterday defended the government’s stance on the matter, saying that the statement “was -constitutionally correct.”
“[Because] by our Constitution, the only China is the ROC,” he said.
However, he later said the document only reflected the opinions of “a certain participant” in the government’s meeting among high-ranking officials.
“The document only places [cross-strait relations] under the framework of the ‘1992 consensus,’ rather than under [Beijing’s] ‘one-China framework,’” Wu said.
Former MAC chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted he made up the term “1992 consensus” in 2000 to facilitate cross-strait talks.
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