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Consolidation of '1992 consensus' should be priority: official

ROC Central News Agency

2012/11/09 23:11:21

Taipei, Nov. 9 (CNA) Taiwan should focus on consolidating the "1992 consensus," which allows Taiwan and China to shelve their differences and build mutual trust, instead of replacing it with another formula on cross-strait affairs, a former senior official said Friday.

Chao Chien-min, ex-deputy head of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's top China policy planning agency, said at a conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 consensus that it has worked well so far.

According to the ruling Kuomintang, the 1992 consensus is a tacit agreement between Taiwan and China that there is only one China, with each side free to interpret what "one China" means.

Before any new paradigm is added to the 1992 consensus, Chao said, the existing common ground should be recognized.

Any new proposal should be able to make a connection to the consensus because it has served to balance cross-strait relations and maintain sovereignty for the countries involved, he added.

Some scholars who attended the conference contended, however, that the "1992 consensus" was replaceable and that both sides of the Taiwan Straits should not restrain themselves from holding further discussions.

Frank Hsieh, former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, proposed a new formula last month during his visit to China to replace "the 1992 consensus," which his party refuses to acknowledge.

Hsieh previously advocated a constitutional consensus within Taiwan between the ruling and opposition parties on democracy, freedom, human rights, social welfare and constitutional institutions, even though they might have different views on certain articles of the country's Constitution.

The formula can be applied to cross-strait relations, according to Hsieh, who said the "1992 consensus" can be replaced by his proposal of a consensus on "respective interpretations by Taiwan and China of what China means according to their respective Constitutions."

(By Scarlett Chai and Lee Hsin-Yin)
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