Beijing, Oct. 11 (CNA) Acceptance of the “1992 consensus” is a precondition for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to engage in political dialogue, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said Wednesday in response to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) National Day address the previous day.
Should the ruling Democratic Progress Party (DPP) change its pro-independence stance, “the door for us to engage and converse with them is wide open,” Chen said during a regular press briefing.
During the address, which marked the National Day of the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name) — Tsai’s last before leaving office in May 2024 after two four-year terms — she called for “peaceful coexistence” with Beijing.
“We are willing to take the Taiwan public consensus as a basis, conditioned with dignity and reciprocity, and with a process of democratic dialogue, to develop with the Beijing authorities a mutually acceptable foundation for interaction and a path to peaceful coexistence,” she said.
In response, Chen accused Tsai’s administration of “playing a double game,” adding that the DPP is leading Taiwan into a perilous situation of potential conflict and danger as it refuses to acknowledge China’s one China principle and the “1992 consensus.”
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding reached in 1992 between the ROC’s then-ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and Beijing that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is only “one China,” with each side free to interpret what that “one China” refers to — the ROC or the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Over the years, the KMT has maintained that the consensus allows each side to interpret what “China” means for itself, although Beijing has never formally endorsed that formula.
The DPP, on the other hand, has refused to accept the “1992 consensus.” It has argued that Beijing never acknowledged the existence of the ROC and that agreeing to it would imply acceptance of China’s claim over Taiwan.
Cross-strait relations expert Chang Wu-ueh (張五岳) told CNA on Tuesday that Tsai’s call for “peaceful coexistence” with Beijing was intended as a gesture of goodwill, but predicted that her remarks were unlikely to elicit a positive response from China.
Beijing has a different perspective on cross-strait relations, which have been complicated by U.S.-China competition and Taiwan’s presidential election in January, said Chang, director of Tamkang University’s Center for Cross-Strait Relations.
At a press conference in Taipei on Wednesday, DPP legislative caucus whip Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) rejected comments by some scholars that President Tsai’s remarks were empty without the “one China” framework.
Taiwan hopes to peacefully coexist with any country, and accusations that Tsai or the DPP are promoting Taiwan independence or trying to eliminate the Republic of China are unfounded, Chuang said, adding that the real threat to the ROC comes from the PRC.
Meanwhile, at the TAO’s press event, Chen was also asked to respond to recent comments by KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) that the KMT is neither a pro-China party nor a party that supports unification with China.
In response, Chen said that Chinese citizens have expressed dissatisfaction with such remarks, which he said damage cross-strait mutual trust and harm the feelings of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
