Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday defended the use of the so-called “1992 consensus” as the basis for the development of cross-strait relations, challenging the adoption of the “Macau Model” as proposed by a former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government official, saying it would diminish the nation’s dignity.
The “1992 consensus” is the best policy as Taiwan seeks to promote peaceful cross-strait relations while prioritizing the interests of the people, Wu said.
“With the ‘1992 consensus’ as the basis, we can set aside sensitive disputes over national sovereignty and focus efforts on cross-strait exchanges in economics, culture and tourism,” he said yesterday after attending a fire drill in Taipei City.
The “1992 consensus” refers to a supposed understanding reached during a meeting in Hong Kong in 1992 between Taiwanese and Chinese representatives, under which both sides claim to have acknowledged that there was “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “one China” means.
The DPP insists that the “1992 consensus” does not exist.
In 2006, former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted he made up the term “1992 consensus” in 2000 before the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) handed over power to the DPP.
Wu’s remarks came after former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said in the US on Tuesday that the so-called “1992 consensus” could be dropped as part of cross-strait exchanges should DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) win next year’s presidential election.
The DPP, he said, would replace the “1992 consensus” with the “Macau Model,” which was adopted by former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration to initiate talks on cross-strait chartered flights in 2005.
While negotiating on chartered flights and other cross-strait issues, the former DPP government sent officials to negotiate with China in Macau on a non-official basis, rather than engaging in the negotiations via semi-government agencies — the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS).
Wu said the “Macau Model” would diminish the nation’s dignity and that it should not be acceptable, even for the DPP.
Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) also dismissed Joseph Wu’s comments, arguing that cross-strait negotiations under the “Macau Model,” which would be conducted by non-governmental groups on an issue-to-issue basis, would be a step backwards from the systematic negotiations held by the SEF and ARATS.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
RSS