President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of being “impractical” for denying the existence of the so-called “1992 consensus,” saying the term was key to cross-strait negotiations.
While former National Security Council secretary-general Su Chi (蘇起) has admitted he coined the term in 2000, Ma yesterday said “he remembered” that the media began using it in 1992.
Without the consensus, Ma said late Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) would not have met his Chinese counterpart, former Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) chairman Wang Daohan (汪道涵), in Singapore in 1993.
“Nor would Beijing have wanted to resume high-level talks with us,” he said.
“The DPP can oppose the ‘1992 consensus,’ but it cannot deny its existence because it is impractical and removed from the facts” he told a gathering of reporters at Taipei Guest House.
Asked to comment on a remark by DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday that it was hard for her to recognize the so-called “1992 consensus” as it did not exist, Ma said the DPP had declined to recognize the existence of the consensus for a long time, which contributed to the limited progress it made in improving cross-strait ties during the eight years it was in power.
About one month into his first term, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said he would acknowledge the consensus if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) did the same, Ma said.
Still, Tsai, who was Mainland Affairs Council minister at the time, continues to deny this, he said.
In March 2006, Ma said Chen told him he would “respect” the consensus if China also recognized its existence after he and the former president had a two-hour debate.
“It is clear that the ‘1992 consensus’ exists in the eyes of the KMT [Chinese Nationalist Party] and the CCP,” Ma said.
Although they have different interpretations of “one China,” their definitions carry the “same significance,” he said.
“In other words, both sides agree they reached a consensus in 1992,” he said, adding that his administration’s acceptance of the consensus strengthened China’s willingness to resume cross-strait talks and improve relations.
Ma said that while he was not seeking to embarrass the DPP, he was curious to know how the DPP, if it returned to power, could honor its promise to continue the KMT’s policy if it denied the existence of the consensus.
On cross-strait talks, Ma said they did not necessarily have to be held twice a year and that the scheduling should be more flexible.
He also denied it was time for both sides to tackle more difficult, non-economic issues, saying more urgent issues of an economic nature had yet to be addressed.
Meanwhile, Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, sought to distance himself from the controversy surrounding maverick party city councilors who failed to vote for party nominees for council speakers and deputy speakers on Saturday, saying he would respect the decision of the party’s local chapters.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS