Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday lashed out at the so-called “1992 consensus,” while urging New Taipei City Mayor and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) to speak about the Republic of China (ROC) in China if he truly believes in the consensus.
“The ‘1992 consensus’ is the kiss of death for Taiwan,” Lu told a news conference in Taipei, adding that if Chu truly believes in the “consensus,” he should openly speak about the ROC during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — scheduled to take place on Monday — “otherwise he should apologize to the people of Taiwan when he returns.”
The “1992 consensus,” refers to a tacit understanding reportedly made by the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Lu said that, if a leader of the nation talks about “putting aside the sovereignty dispute” when dealing with China, “then the leader may need to put aside his or her power as the president, as it’s one of the president’s most important duties, to defend the national sovereignty.”
“The Chinese Nationalist Party always wants to ‘blur’ the sovereignty issue, but when you give up sovereignty, you would only have the power to rule, then you become a chief executive of a local government,” she said. “Many people are worried that you’re making the Taiwan [government] a local government. That is the problem with the ‘1992 consensus.’”
Lu said that a new stance proposed by then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in 1999 that Taiwan and China establish a “state-to-state relationship” should have already replaced the “1992 consensus.”
However, she also called on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to clarify its China policy to avoid being trapped by the “1992 consensus.”
“I would especially like [DPP Chairperson] Tsai Ing-wen [蔡英文] to clarify her definition of ‘maintaining the cross-strait status quo,’” Lu said.
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