Former Presidential Office secretary-general Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) on Saturday rejected former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) claim that former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) had been a proponent of Beijing’s “one China” principle.
Lee, who served as president from 1988 to 2000, died in Taipei on Thursday last week.
After visiting the Taipei Guest House on Saturday to pay his respects to Lee, Ma posted on Facebook that “28 years ago on this day” Lee hosted a session of the now-defunct National Unification Council, during which he passed a resolution on the “one China” principle.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kun, Taipei Times
That resolution became the basis of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) “one China, with different interpretations” framework that formed the foundation of the “1992 consensus,” Ma said.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
In his post, Ma had called upon the public to “remember the historical importance of this resolution,” which he said both sides of the Taiwan Strait persistently promoted.
In August 1992, the year the resolution was passed, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits worked out a consensus on what “one China” means, and it was on the basis of that agreement that cross-strait relations developed prosperously through Ma’s presidency from 2008 to 2016, Ma said.
Huang said that Ma was “immoral and insincere for distorting history at a time like this.”
Huang — who in 1992 was Ma’s superior, serving as Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) minister, while Ma was a deputy minister — said the meeting in Hong Kong where Ma said the “1992 consensus” was reached was a routine encounter to review documents.
“How could there possibly have been discussions on national sovereignty issues at that meeting?” Huang said.
Prior to the meeting, Beijing had repeatedly insisted that Taiwan accept its “one China” principle, which Taiwanese officials up to that point had refused to do, Huang said, adding that during that meeting, no consensus was reached on any issue.
During a press conference following the meeting, Ma, who was also the MAC spokesman, even said the meeting was a failure, Huang said.
“How can Ma now say there was a ‘1992 consensus’?” he added.
Lee’s main purpose in establishing the National Unification Council was to discuss Taiwan’s internal policies related to unification, Huang said, adding that the body would not have passed any resolutions on the issue, nor would it have met with Chinese officials to discuss it.
Lee and former SEF chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) had both previously denied there was a “1992 consensus,” Huang said.
Ma choosing to assert otherwise after Lee passed away was “immoral,” he said.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all