Ten of the nation’s largest pro--independence organizations yesterday issued a blunt rebuke to former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) over his suggestion that Taiwan use the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution in future negotiations with China.
The Taiwan Society, Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan and other groups said Hsieh’s ideas on a “constitutional consensus” would undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Hsieh, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Standing Committee member, said on Monday that a new accord was needed to replace the disputed “1992 consensus” used by the government as a foundation for cross-strait talks.
His proposal implicitly asks DPP supporters to accept the ROC’s sovereignty over Taiwan as the “greatest common denominator.”
Hsieh’s proposal can “never be accepted” and would likely not help in cross-strait relations, the groups said in a statement. The “constitutional consensus” would undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty movement and cause more confusion over the country’s international status, they said.
“Hsieh clearly knows that accepting the ROC Constitution would draw a distinction between [Taiwan’s] national sovereignty and national governance,” the statement said, ostensibly referring to clauses in the document that include territory controlled by the People’s Republic of China as part of the ROC.
“There are also serious contradictions within the ROC Constitution on historical jurisdiction and [the current] geographical jurisdiction,” the statement said. “These [contradictions] show just how shaky the grounds are on which Hsieh’s proposal is based.”
In a not so subtle warning against politicians within the DPP that support Hsieh, the statement also said that pro-independence backers would likely reconsider their support for Hsieh if he continued to make statements that “harmed Taiwan’s sovereignty.”
Hsieh said on his Web site yesterday morning that a “constitutional consensus” would help protect Taiwan against pressure for unification with China, which he said was “subtly taking place.”
“My [proposal] is to search for an accord with supporters of the ‘status quo’ to achieve a consensus that is supported by the majority of Taiwanese,” Hsieh said.
Meanwhile, Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) attitude toward the “1992 consensus” had been consistent and that the administration would insist on the “three noes” under that framework and the Constitution.
The “three noes,” a pledge Ma made during his 2008 presidential election campaign, refer to no discussion of unification with Beijing during Ma’s presidency, no pursuit or support of de jure independence and no use of military force to resolve the Taiwan issue.
As for the definition of the so-called “1992 consensus,” Lo said the administration’s position has been that there is only “one China” and that both sides of the Strait had its own interpretation of what “one China” means.
Former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) said in February 2006 that he had invented the consensus in 2000 in order to break the cross-strait deadlock.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
‘NEW NORMAL’: A Japanese official said the drills show that the PLA can carry out large maneuvers without announcement, ‘leaving all of us struggling to respond’ Beijing’s recent naval exercises have left Taiwan and the US “struggling” for a response as the two nations drew different conclusions about the implications of the Chinese military drills, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Sunday. Taiwan has been bracing for China to hold military drills to retaliate against President William Lai’s (賴清德) diplomatic visits abroad, the outlet said, referring to Lai’s Nov. 30 to Dec. 6 tour to Taiwan’s three South Pacific allies, which included stopovers in Hawaii and Guam. Beijing announced partial air traffic restrictions across seven time zones along its coast from Shanghai to Hong Kong over two days. Yet,
CONNECTED: A survey of students from third grade to university seniors showed that 80% had cellphones, spending on average 37.27 hours per week on them Line users in Taiwan made an average of 100 million voice or video calls each day this year, while “like/thumbs up” was the most frequently used emoji in reaction to a message on the service, the Tokyo-based operator of the messaging app said yesterday. The app’s ability to adjust the quality of video and voice calls helps contribute to its frequent use, LY Corp said in a statement. As of Nov. 30, Line users in Taiwan spent an average of about one hour per day on the app, often checking it in the morning for messages that might have come through overnight,
RSS