Fri, Apr 21, 2023 page3

• Ko says he met with US national security officials

  CONSENSUS? The TPP chairman said he told a former AIT official that Beijing’s ‘one China’ policy is not a problem as ‘nobody in the world thinks there are two Chinas’

  • By William Hetherington / Staff writer, with CNA
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  Taiwan People’s Party Chairman (TPP) Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Wednesday said he met with US National Security Council officials during a visit to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) headquarters in Washington.

  Ko told reporters in Washington that he had met AIT Chair Laura Rosenberger during a visit to AIT headquarters on Thursday last week and on Wednesday met with US security officials to discuss Taiwan’s national defense and cross-strait issues.

  When he was asked by reporters whom he met, his aide was heard telling him to “only say that you spoke with high-level US officials, as both sides have agreed to keep the names confidential.”

  

  Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je, center, leaves the American Institute in Taiwan headquarters in Washington on Wednesday.

  Photo: CNA

  However, AIT Political-Military Affairs Director Matthew Tritle was seen at AIT headquarters during Ko’s visit.

  The meeting — which also touched upon Taiwan’s procurement of arms from the US, compulsory military service in Taiwan and other related issues — was “very informative,” Ko said.

  He said he told US officials at the meeting that while Taiwan should continue to focus on national defense, its priority should be economic growth, adding that he hoped the US would assist Taiwan in joining regional economic organizations.

  The former Taipei mayor also said that Taiwan, the US and China should maintain good communication, and that the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait should not be unilaterally changed.

  In the afternoon, Ko met with US Congressional Taiwan Caucus cochair Mario Diaz-Balart, thanking him and the caucus for their long-term support for Taiwan, and for facilitating cross-party cooperation on Taiwan-related issues.

  Ko also met with former AIT deputy director David Keegan at Johns Hopkins University, where Keegan is an adjunct lecturer in the Chinese studies program.

  Ko said he told Keegan that Beijing’s “one China” policy is not a problem, as “nobody in the world thinks there are two Chinas.”

  However, problems exist with China’s interpretation of the so-called “1992 consensus,” which Beijing interprets to mean that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the only legitimate representative of China, and that Taiwan is part of the PRC, he said.

  As China has failed to properly explain its interpretation of the “1992 consensus” to Taiwan, causing it to become stigmatized in Taiwan, Beijing should no longer insist that Taiwan adhere to it, he said.

  The “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
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