China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) yesterday said that Beijing would not resume regular communications with Taipei, despite the appointment of former minister of foreign affairs Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) as chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).
The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) — the foundation’s counterpart — will not resume regular dialogue with the SEF until the “local authority” recognizes the so-called “1992 consensus,” Zhang said at a news conference after a cross-strait economic forum in Shandong Province.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted to making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (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: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“The key to the problem is the political basis, the political basis of the negotiation being authorized, not the individuals involved,” Zhang said.
According to a source close to the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media, former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) was offered the chairmanship first, but after a lengthy period of discussion Wang declined the position, prompting the administration to name Tien.
The source said the Presidential Office chose Tien because he has no business dealings or personal interests in China that would call into question his ability to rise above Beijing’s influence, he is a widely respected academic in China and Taiwan, and he has credibility with Beijing as a courier of authoritative messages while having a pan-green pedigree that makes him acceptable to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) base.
In addition, Tien worked with Tsai during his tenure as the minister of foreign affairs and has been acting as one of Tsai’s foremost advisors on cross-strait relations, the source said.
KMT Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said Tien was responsible for printing the word “Taiwan” on passports as the then-minister of foreign affairs, and his appointment shows that the Tsai administration is “not willing or able to take the restoration of regular cross-strait negotiations seriously.”
Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said: “Tien understands the special state-to-state relationship and has a flair for international affairs. There is no doubt that he understands the cross-strait situation and is qualified to facilitate cross-strait relations.”
DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said naming Tien as chairman would ease Tsai’s relationship with the party’s base, adding that since Tien has pan-green credentials and had served on the National Unification Council during former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) administration, he would be a SEF chairman who is acceptable to all groups.
“At the very least, the SEF’s role as the cross-strait fax machine will be preserved,” Huang said.
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS