It would be better for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to engage practically rather than make symbolic moves, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesperson Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) said as she rejected the Straits Exchange Foundation’s (SEF) gift of two Formosan sika deer.
On Oct. 16, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said that the organization would be gifting the two deer as a gesture of goodwill.
The deer are named He He (和和) and Ping Ping (平平), a play on the word for “peace” (heping, 和平).
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Instead of gifts, both sides should sincerely adhere to the so-called “1992 consensus” and recognize that Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are one country, Zhu told a news conference in Beijing.
Once the two sides agree to that principle, it would be possible to restart cross-strait communication, exchanges and cooperation, she added.
The “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Some legislators criticized the foundation for giving the deer as a goodwill gift, and said that mutual respect is necessary.
The TAO statements are untrue, DPP Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) said in an interview.
There has never been a “1992 consensus,” she added, calling it a fabrication.
The SEF decision to send the deer shows how Taiwan seeks peaceful relations and mutual respect, Wang said, adding that the TAO should stop making baseless statements, as Taiwan has not historically been a part of the PRC.
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