Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in an interview with the New York Times published yesterday that her China policy has been consistent through the years — one that does not accept the “one China” principle and advocates bilateral engagement with a democratic process and under a multilateral framework.
The DPP chairperson said that a “Taiwan consensus,” based on majority opinion through open dialogue, is a better way to deal with China than the opaque -decision-making process used by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for decades.
The so-called “1992 consensus” has been advocated by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), her opponent in next Saturday’s presidential election, and Beijing because China has insisted on it as a precondition for any cross-strait exchanges.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The 1992 consensus “is messy and nobody has a clear idea or convincing argument as to what happened in the 1990s,” she said.
Tsai said that the Taiwan consensus “means people in Taiwan have to get together and form a consensus of their own and that they would then turn around and talk to the Chinese to form a cross-strait consensus so we can build a relationship on that consensus.”
“And in my view, that is the right order to do things. And with that, we can build a long-lasting relationship with China,” she said.
Taiwan needs to manage uncertainty in dealing with China, a rising power that “is not a democracy or a full market economy yet,” to make sure it could insulate itself from problems such as social instability China may be facing, she said.
Taiwan appears to have lost its sovereignty because more international partners think Taiwan has accepted the “one China” principle and Ma’s interpretation of the cross-strait relationship as an “area-to-area relationship,” Tsai said.
Her China policy has been “pretty consistent” since she served as minister of the Mainland Affairs Council, Tsai said, as she said that Taiwan should leave its options open, but the important decisions have to made by the people through a democratic process.
“I do think we need to normalize our trade and economic relationship [with China] in the multilateral framework of the WTO. That continues to be my position,” she said.
Tsai raised several points about the development of Taiwan’s democracy, saying the bright side is that there are more mature voters and citizens, but there has been increasing Chinese influence as well.
The KMT’s large party assets continued to hurt fair competition between political parties, she added.
She said she was not worried about the US abandoning Taiwan, because Taiwan was not facing China alone and if the US is serious about returning to the Asia-Pacific region, it should boost the confidence of all the countries in the region.
The presidential hopeful said that former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) corruption case did not reflect on the DPP, adding that it is the KMT that still has prevalent and systemic corruption.
On economic issues, she highlighted the need for job creation and a change of strategy because Taiwan needs to pursue an employment-driven economy, instead of a GDP-driven one, and change the economy from one based on cost to one based on technology and innovation.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by