Terms of engagement: Taiwan’s president urged to forge new cross-strait consensus
Former Taiwanese negotiator calls on island’s president to create new term with similar meaning, and for the DPP to abandon its independence push
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Sunday called on troops to stay alert and defend the island as she made her first inspection of Taiwan’s armed forces.
Her call came as a former top Taiwanese cross-strait negotiator urged Tsai to come up with a replacement for the “1992 consensus”, or risk a political and economic crisis similar to the one faced by former president Chen Shui-bian.
Tsai, the island’s first woman commander-in-chief, visited Hualien and Jiashan airbases in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien county, Central News Agency reported.
“As members of the Republic of China Air Force, how can we allow others to flaunt their military prowess over our territorial airspace?” CNA quoted her as saying.
Ties between Taipei and Beijing havebeen rattled since Tsai skirted mention of the consensus in her inauguration speech on May 20. Beijing considers the consensus on “one China” to be the political foundation for regular cross-strait dialogue. It was an understanding that there is only “one China”, but each side would have its own interpretation of what constitutes “China”.
Beijing expresses dissatisfaction after Taiwan’s new President Tsai Ing-wen swaps ‘consensus’ for ‘historic fact’
Chang Hsien-yao, former deputy head of Taipei’s Mainland Affairs Council, said Beijing would likely suspend all official communication with Taipei if Tsai’s position on the consensus continued to be ambiguous.
“Tsai said in her inauguration speech that the two governing parties across the strait must set aside the baggage of history, and engage in positive dialogue ... I call on [Tsai’s] Democratic Progressive Party to give up its historical burden and abandon the ideology of Taiwan independence,” Chang said. “As a responsible ruling party, the DPP has an obligation to show it can come up with a new political discourse if it doesn’t like using ‘1992 consensus’.”
As a responsible ruling party, the DPP has an obligation to show it can come up with a new political discourse if it doesn’t like using ‘1992 consensus’
He said a new term would be crucial to reviving the island’s ailing economy.
Under the DPP’s “New Southbound Policy”, Tsai plans to expand the island’s economic exchanges with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India via the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, to cut Taiwan’s economic reliance on the mainland.
“Former president Ma Ying-jeou tried a similar policy... Experience tells us that none of the Asean countries wants to get involved in the cross-strait political row,” Chang said.
Lin Chong-pin, former Taiwanese deputy defence minister and MAC vice-chairman from 1996 to 2002, said if Beijing was more patient and gave Tsai room to improve the island’s economy, Tsai could convince her party to give up its pro-independence stand. “If Tsai can show she can govern well, she will continue to enjoy high approval ratings and overcome party objections to accommodating Beijing. Otherwise she will become Chen Shui-bian No 2,” Lin said.
Beijing raises economic red flag over Tsai Ing-wen’s ‘refusal’ on cross-strait consensus
In his inauguration speech in 2000, Chen promised not to declare independence or amend Taiwan’s constitution if Beijing did not use military force against Taiwan. But two years later he introduced the “one country on each side of the strait” concept, namely “one China, one Taiwan”. Beijing then increased the number of missiles aimed at the island
Li Fei, deputy director of Xiamen University’s Taiwan Research Centre, said Beijing was still waiting for a better answer from Tsai.
“Beijing said Tsai’s answer was incomplete. It’s not yet a fail, meaning she still has a chance to give a better answer. If she is still reluctant to do so, there will be no more talks,” he said.
