Presidential Office spokesperson Charles Chen (陳以信) yesterday described Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) remarks during Friday’s televised policy presentation about the so-called “1992 consensus” as “sophistry.”
Tsai said that the DPP has not denied the historical fact that in 1992 cross-trait talks took place, with the two sides of the Taiwan Strait wishing to push forward the cross-strait relationship, trying to “seek similarities, while acknowledging the existence of differences.”
“However, the ‘1992 consensus’ is a term coined by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in 2000 following the first transfer of power,” Tsai said. “It is merely one of the interpretations of what happened in 1992.”
“Even within the KMT itself, the ‘1992 consensus’ has been interpreted differently,” Tsai added. “For Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), it is ‘one China, same interpretation,’ while KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said it is ‘two sides belonging to one China’ and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said it is ‘a consensus reached based on the ‘one China’ principle.”
Tsai said that these statements, “which are more and more aligning themselves with Beijing’s stance on the cross-strait relationship, make us worry that Taiwan’s sovereignty and Taiwanese’s right to choose their own future could be jeopardized and restricted.”
“My stance is clear, which is to return to the fact and the spirit of the meeting, which is to seek similarities, while recognizing that differences do exist,” Tsai said.
Chen yesterday slammed Tsai’s remarks as “sophistry,” saying that terms such as the “228 Incident” and the “823 Artillery Bombardment” were coined years after the incidents took place.
“Are we then to say that these incidents did not take place?” he said.
Chen said that Tsai in 2000 said as then-Mainland Affairs Council minister that “our stance is to respectively interpret ‘one China’” because “the Constitution states that it is the Republic of China [ROC].”
“The ‘1992 consensus’ and ‘one China, different interpretations’ are completely in accordance with the ROC Constitution; how is that ‘restricting [Taiwanese’s] right to choose and room for autonomy’?” Chen said.
Chen also questioned the “two state doctrine” and the “one nation on each side” model, “once proposed by Tsai against the Constitution,” saying they also restrict people’s right to choose and the nation’s autonomy.
He said Tsai is overlooking “the fact that the ‘1992 consensus’ has created a peaceful and prosperous ‘status quo’ and has the support of a majority of the people” in saying that the ‘1992 consensus’ is only an alternative rather than a consensus among the nations.
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