President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), for the first time since her inauguration, implicitly dismissed the so-called “1992 consensus” in an interview with the Washington Post, saying it is unlikely that her government would agree to a deadline for accepting conditions that go against the public’s will.
Tsai gave her first exclusive interview since taking office with Washington Post senior associate editor Lally Weymouth at the Presidential Office Building on Monday, with the president talking at length about cross-strait ties and the Taiwan-US relationship.
“I am certain that as a national leader, [Chinese President] Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) is equipped with the ability to make a good and a right decision based on a comprehensive review of all the situations,” Tsai said when asked to verify reports that Xi has set a deadline for her to accept the “1992 consensus.”
Photo: CNA, courtesy of the Office of the President
Tsai said that given Taiwan has evolved into a mature democracy, where trends in public opinion matter greatly, it is unlikely that the government would accede to conditions set by the other side that are against the will of the people.
“I believe that they [Chinese authorities] are aware of this,” Tsai said.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Tsai has so far merely expressed respect for the “1992 talks.”
Praising Xi’s courage in tackling corruption as being conducive to the development of Chinese society, Tsai said she hoped that Xi could “show a bit more flexibility” in dealing with cross-strait relations and appreciate Taiwan’s democracy.
With regard to her plans for handling ties with Beijng amid a reported decrease in official cross-strait communications, Tsai said there are diverse channels of communication across the Taiwan Strait, including official links and person-to-person ties.
“There are differences between the positions held on either side of the Strait. In Taiwan, we have done our best to minimize that gap. I believe that the Chinese realize the goodwill we put forth at the inauguration,” Tsai said.
However, she declined to go into much detail when asked whether she is in touch with Chinese government officials, saying only that different levels of government have a variety of ways to communicate with their counterparts in Beijing.
Weymouth asked Tsai how she plans to strike a balance between maintaining cross-strait stability and responding to the expectations of her younger supporters, most of whom identify themselves as “Taiwanese” rather than “Chinese” and are perceived as champions of Taiwanese independence.
“It is a fact that different generations — and different people of different ethnic origins — have different views on China,” Tsai said. “However, they all agree on one thing: That is democracy.”
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) yesterday said that the maintenance of peaceful cross-strait development is supported by mainstream public opinion on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
“Only by adhering to the 1992 consensus and its core meaning — that both sides belong to one China — can peaceful development of cross-strait ties be ensured,” Ma said.
Ma said that the communication mechanism between the TAO and the MAC, as well as between the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, are both built on the “1992 consensus.”
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS