Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) remarks that Taiwan and China are “both China” is in line with the Constitution, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday, adding that the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) criticism of the comments show that it “lacks the determination to defend” the Republic of China (ROC).
Ma on Sunday told a group of students at Hunan University in Changsha, China, that “Taiwan and mainland China are both China” under an amendment to the ROC Constitution, and the constitution of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), adopted in 1982, states that “Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the People’s Republic of China.”
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Sunday evening said that Ma harmed the nation’s sovereignty and dignity by echoing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle.
Photo courtesy of Ma Ying-jeou’s office
“Our country was divided into two parts — one is the Taiwan Area, and the other is the Mainland Area — both are [parts of] our Republic of China [ROC], both are [parts of] China,” the KMT wrote on Facebook yesterday, quoting Ma.
His comments are based on the Constitution, it said.
“The DPP clearly lacks the determination to defend the ROC, and can only make sarcastic remarks,” it added. “It is unwilling to face the constitutional facts, and yet does not dare to amend the Constitution, nor declare Taiwanese independence.”
Ma has persistently emphasized the ROC’s stance on calling the other side of the Taiwan Strait the “Mainland Area,” it said.
“Is the DPP willing to respect the ROC Constitution?” it added.
It was regretful to see that a government agency, referring to the MAC, would ignore the law to criticize an opposition party, it said.
“Ma, in the mainland, openly said that ‘the ROC is our country.’ Does the DPP agree with that statement?” the KMT said.
As President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has damaged ties with China and has never been constructive on cross-strait affairs, the DPP can only criticize Ma’s trip to China, it said.
“If the DPP thinks there is a big gap between public opinion and the ROC Constitution, then it should give up its ROC government official duties,” it added.
Although the DPP is unwilling to amend the Constitution, it continues to claim that the document — which has been amended several times, most recently in 1997 — does not reflect public opinion, it said.
“The MAC and the DPP have clearly forgotten that the MAC is under the ROC’s Executive Yuan, and President Tsai Ing-wen is the ROC president,” it said.
Ma’s office yesterday said that the MAC’s statement that “the ROC and the PRC are not subordinate to each other” openly advocated a “two-state theory,” calling it a serious contravention of the Constitution.
It also breaks Tsai’s promise to conform to the Constitution and the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), it said in a statement.
Under Article 2 of the act, the “‘Taiwan Area’ refers to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and any other area under the effective control of the government,” while the “‘Mainland Area’ refers to the territory of the Republic of China outside the Taiwan Area.”
While the MAC said that Ma’s “one China” remark was echoing the CCP’s intention to annex Taiwan, “does the ROC Constitution not stipulate one China? Is the mainland area not a part of our territory, based on the Constitution?” it added.
Tsai should explain whether the MAC’s statement suggesting that “the mainland is another country” is her administration’s official stance, and whether it is abandoning the “one China” principle enshrined in the Constitution, the office said.
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