The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) does not interact with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), preferring instead to go through opposition parties and local governments, Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Frank Wu (吳豊山) told the foundation’s board yesterday.
Wu in his address said that efforts are still ongoing to promote cross-strait peace and to communicate with the foundation’s Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.
Dialogue with the association has been suspended since 2016, when Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) won the presidential election, with Beijing saying that Tsai did not complete a test paper on the so-called “1992 consensus,” Wu said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
“President William Lai (賴清德) in his inaugural address on May 20 last year stated that the Republic of China (ROC) Taiwan and People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other. The Chinese side interpreted it as promoting the concept of ‘Taiwan and China as two countries,’ which they would not accept,” Wu 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 Chinese leaders that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Wu took helm of the SEF in November last year, saying at the time that leaders on both sides advocate for peaceful engagement.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) in response said that dialogue could only resume based on the “1992 consensus.”
“I replied that if some sort of ‘consensus’ was agreed upon in 1992, then this agreement still must have a place for the ROC... So the Chinese side must state clearly, that in their interpretation of the ‘1992 consensus,’ where is the ROC?” Wu said.
In November last year, a TAO spokesperson explained it as “finding common ground among differences and setting aside disputes,” but Wu said that in the more-than-700-word explanation, not one word explained the ROC’s position.
The Taiwanese government does not want to quarrel about the “1992 consensus,” Wu said.
“We are only now talking about this issue to show that the Chinese side is using the ‘1992 consensus’ as a ludicrous pretext for not restarting dialogue,” he said. “Since the Chinese side could not explain the ROC’s position under the consensus, that clearly should be end of the dispute.”
“Lai’s address at his inauguration clearly stressed that he wishes for Taiwan and China to start dialogue instead of confrontation,” he said. “Therefore, it is the SEF’s aim to follow Lai’s directives.”
However, Beijing has deliberately chosen to only cooperate with opposition parties and local governments, he said, adding that “this is not open and upfront conduct as a self-proclaimed ‘great nation’ would do.”
The cross-strait situation also involves interaction between the US and China, Wu added.
“The US, China and other nations all know that peace is the only way for a bright future,” he said. “So I am willing to take a cautious, but optimistic stance on developing new cross-strait relations.”
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
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,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS