Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday criticized the implementation of China’s “one country, two systems” formula in Hong Kong and urged Taiwanese to work together to protect the nation.
“Even beggars would run away” if the formula were implemented in Taiwan in the same manner as it is being executed in Hong Kong, Ko said during a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Chiang Chih-ming (江志銘) said that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former premier William Lai (賴清德), who have registered as candidates for the DPP’s presidential primary, have both promised to “protect the nation.”
Photo: CNA
It is speculated that Ko will announce a presidential bid, Chiang said and asked him to clarify his stance on protecting Taiwan.
“Even a beggar should protect Taiwan, not only the president, because protecting Taiwan is everyone’s responsibility,” Ko said.
Chiang said the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) potential presidential candidates have expressed their opinions about the “one country, two systems” framework and the so-called “1992 consensus,” and asked the mayor to explain his views.
Ko said the terms have become mere labels in Taiwan and that no one understands what the “1992 consensus” really means.
“If the ‘one country, two systems’ formula [intended for Taiwan] is like the ‘Hong Kong model,’ then everyone would run away,” he said, adding that China has to explain what it means.
DPP Taipei City Councilor Chen Yi-chun (陳怡君) asked Ko to comment on Chinese Minister of National Defense General Wei Fenghe’s (魏鳳和) remark on Sunday that the Chinese military would fight at all costs if anyone dared to “split Taiwan from China” and that the Tiananmen Square Massacre 30 years ago was the “correct” decision to ensure stability.
The massacre is “a tragedy in China’s modern history involving Chinese killing Chinese,” Ko said, adding: “We need to strengthen our national defense, because the more Wei speaks about it, the more Taiwanese are afraid.”
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the 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.
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