The Republic of China (ROC) has always recognized the “1992 consensus” and the Constitution in the pursuit of cross-strait peace and development, Presidential Office spokesman Fang Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基) said yesterday.
Fang said the ROC’s stance on handling cross-strait relations was very clear, with adherence to the “one China, with each side having its own interpretation” consensus.
It also abides by the view that each side does not recognize the other side’s sovereignty, while not denying the right of the other government to exist under the ROC Constitution and seeking peaceful development across the strait by recognizing similarities and putting aside differences, Fang said.
Although the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has made the so-called “1992 consensus” a cornerstone of its diplomatic relations with Beijing, several politicians, including many Democratic Progressive Party members and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), say that it is a fabrication.
Fang’s comments came after media reported last week that former American Institute in Taiwan chairman Richard Bush had said during a symposium in Washington that despite the People’s Republic of China control over Chinese territory, Beijing could not entirely negate the fact that the ROC was present and has been present since 1912.
If Beijing were willing to accept the “two Chinas” concept proposed by the US decades ago, it would be applicable to cross-strait relations, said Bush, now director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution.
TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
The coast guard on Friday took a Chinese fishing boat and the 17 people on board into custody, after it rammed into a patrol boat while attempting to flee. A 100-tonne coast guard vessel at about 8am discovered a Chinese fishing boat illegally operating in waters about 11 nautical miles (20.4km) northwest of Hsinchu, the Hsinchu offshore flotilla of the Coast Guard Administration said. The crew refused to allow law enforcement to board the ship and attempted to flee, it added. The coast guard vessel and another ship chased the fishing boat for about a half hour, during which time the Chinese boat
Vice President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that Beijing was trying to “annex” Taiwan, while China said its recent series of drills near Taiwan are aimed at combating the “arrogance” of separatist forces. The Ministry of National Defense earlier this month said that it had observed dozens of Chinese fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships and the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, operating nearby. The increased frequency of China’s military activities has raised the risk of events “getting out of hand” and sparking an accidental clash, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said last week. Asked about the spurt
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching
RSS