Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday criticized Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) upcoming trip to China, saying that departing for an authoritarian country on Taiwan’s Freedom of Speech Day strikes a “raw nerve.”
Cheng is scheduled to lead a KMT delegation to China from Saturday next week to April 12 on the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
The itinerary includes stops in Jiangsu Province, Shanghai and Beijing. It did not specify a meeting with Xi, which Cheng has been pushing for.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Speaking during a legislative session in Taipei, Cho criticized the schedule as provocative.
“April 7 is Taiwan’s Freedom of Speech Day, yet she is traveling to a country without freedom of speech,” Cho said. “This timing, arranged by the other side, is clearly meant to touch a raw nerve domestically.”
The premier also warned the KMT against acceding to Beijing’s political framework.
If Cheng approaches any dialogue supporting the so-called “1992 consensus” and Beijing’s “one China” principle, it would be detrimental to Taiwan’s national interests, he said.
Polling consistently shows that Taiwanese do not accept the “1992 consensus,” nor does the international community universally subscribe to Beijing’s “one China” principle, Cho added.
He was responding to Cheng’s comments the day before that “the entire world follows the ‘one China’ policy and does not support Taiwanese independence.”
The so-called “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) echoed the premier’s concerns, urging the KMT delegation to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty and avoid falling into the CCP’s “united front” trap.
Accepting Beijing’s narrative would only divide Taiwanese society, damage national morale and send misleading signals to the global community, Chiu said.
Cho and Chiu reminded the KMT that any cross-strait interactions must strictly adhere to 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), under which unauthorized political agreements with China are prohibited, and contraventions could result in up to five years in prison.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) questioned the trip’s transparency, saying that the sudden invitation coincides with the legislature’s review of the defense budget and expressions of concern from the US.
Demanding transparency regarding the delegation’s roster, she expressed concern over whether members of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee would participate and potentially compromise classified information.
“My worry is not about what agreements she might sign, but that she is going there to receive orders from Xi to continue disrupting the government and weakening Taiwan’s national defense,” she said.
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