Taiwanese delegates to the annual Straits Forum did not get a meeting with the chairperson of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) for the first time in the 11-year history of the cross-strait platform.
Instead, Taiwan Affairs Office Director Liu Jieyi (劉結一) met with the visitors — who included New Party Chairman Wu Cherng-dean (吳成典) and People First Party adviser Li Jian-nan (黎建南) — yesterday morning, ahead of the opening ceremony in Xiamen, instead of CPPCC Chairman Wang Yang (汪洋).
Lee Cheng-hung (李政宏), president of the China-based Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, and Lu Li’an (盧麗安), a Taiwan-born representative to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 19th National Congress, also attended the meeting.
Photo: CNA
However, Wang did send a video message that was played at the forum in the afternoon, reiterating Beijing’s usual line of opposition to Taiwan’s independence and adding that under the “1992 consensus” based on the “one China” principle, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are to develop cross-strait cooperation and promote unification.
It was learned that Beijing decided not to send Wang to the forum and to have Liu receive the delegation after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) decided not to send an official delegation this year over what most Taiwanese viewed as a demeaning remark by the host of a China Central Television (CCTV) program.
A headline banner during the program summarized host Li Hong’s (李紅) comments as: “With the Strait on the brink of war, this man is coming to the mainland to plead for peace,” referring to former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), whom the KMT had picked to head its delegation.
The KMT asked Li to apologize, but then decided not to send an official party delegation, although its members were free to go on their own.
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 CCP that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu
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