The reasons behind the abrupt postponement of the annual Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum earlier this month were that the two sides could not agree on the content of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and that Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) refused to mention the so-called “1992 consensus” in his remarks, an official familiar with the matter said yesterday.
After the forum, which was scheduled to be held in Shanghai on Thursday last week, had been abruptly postponed, some Taiwanese businesspeople in China asked Chinese officials about the reason, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The businesspeople were told that the MOU revised by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) had not met the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) demands, and Chiang had been unwilling to mention the “1992 consensus” in his speech at the forum, so the CCP called a halt to the event, they said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the CCP that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The official said that when the council reviewed the two MOUs that the two cities planned to sign, it found one contravened 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), so it on Sept. 19 asked the Taipei City Government to revise it.
The MOU involved labor brokerage, promoting and arranging Taiwanese to work in China, which contravened articles 34 and 35 of the act, so the council asked relevant clauses to be removed, the official said.
“The forum is for exchanges between the cities and their municipal policies, and the central government did not instruct the Taipei City Government to negotiate with China,” they said.
Vocational training certification and issuing other related certifications are under the government’s authority, but the MOU used ambiguous wording regarding its purview, so the MAC had to remove such content, they added.
From the CCP’s perspective, signing a revised MOU would not have been in its interest if a delegation led by Chiang had visited China without him mentioning that “people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are all Chinese,” as well as the “1992 consensus” or that “both sides of the Strait are one family,” the official said.
Attending the forum could give publicity to Chiang, helping him build up his personal brand, but when he refused to mention the “1992 consensus,” the trip would only become an arena for him to show off his charm, they said, adding that it would not contribute to the CCP’s “united front” work, so the party just postponed the forum indefinitely.
“The CCP is not holding the forum to promote Chiang,” the official said.
On the other hand, the Taipei City Government wants to deal with the issue carefully and protect Chiang’s reputation, they said.
The council’s revision of the MOUs was not the only reason behind the forum’s postponement, as there were also disagreements over what Chiang would say at the forum, they said, adding that government critics should not blame the delay on the MAC.
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