KMT-CCP platform Does Five Harms to Taiwan

In response to KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung’s trip to China, the DPP believes that if the cross-strait KMT-CCP platform is allowed to become a reoccurring channel of communication between Taiwan and China, it will harm Taiwan in the following 5 ways:

1. Harms Taiwan’s democracy

As the ruling party which controls the national government, the ruling party has the responsibility and obligation to push for government to government level cross-strait negotiations on equal terms. Wu’s visits to China and his discussions which involves national public interests has not only allowed the regression of cross strait negotiations back to the 1992 Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) talks, but also further reverted back to the party-to-party talks in 1981 when the Nine Points were proposed by China’s Ye Jianying. This would lead Taiwan to return to an era of "party led government." At the same time, when the KMT goes to China to engage in private negotiations, the party neither has to report to the Legislative Yuan nor be subject to any monitoring upon returning to the country. Thus, these secret negotiations harm Taiwan’s democracy.

2. Harms Taiwan’s sovereignty

Wu only mentioned the “1992 Consensus” but did not dare to mention “one China, different interpretations.” Taiwan’s President Ma turned into Taipei's Mister Ma. While this expression was allegedly used to set aside any disputes, it has in fact set aside Taiwan’s sovereignty. In addition, in the hopes of negotiating with China for international recognition, unless we are guaranteed complete respect, sovereignty will easily be used as a bargaining chip, which would be no different than selling out Taiwan’s sovereignty. Under these circumstances, even before negotiations have begun, Taiwan has already made a concession on the issue of sovereignty. If the KMT-CCP platform is allowed to progress, it will turn into a mockery allowing complete cooperation allowing China to take over Taiwan’s sovereignty.

3. Harms Taiwan's negotiation process

The DPP government previously utilized and authorized the assistance of non-governmental, professional organizations to help negotiate with China on issues from the implementation of chartered flights during the Lunar New Year, to allowing Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan as well as implementing chartered cargo flights. The details of these negotiations had already been completed when the DPP government was in power. On the eve of the revival of the SEF-ARATS talks, Wu made a trip to China. Aside from the inappropriate timing, his visit may have represented that talks could resume only through the KMT-CCP platform, thereby harming the structure of cross-strait negotiations. The day after the Wu-Hu meeting, the ARATS sent a letter inviting the SEF to come to Beijing for further talks on June 11-14. Aside from allowing China to proclaim to the world that party-to-party negotiations have produced results, more importantly it has caused chaos over governmental policies. The meeting has also created further confusion between the KMT-CCP platform’s “Track Two” and the official government’s "Track One" channels, which increases China’s ability to further push their goal of ‘unifying’ Taiwan.

4. Harms Taiwan's security

In response to the generous support offered by the Taiwanese people for rescue efforts following the Szechuan earthquake, Hu Jing-tao proclaimed that people on both sides of the strait belonged to the same Chinese nationality, with all compatriots sharing the same compassion. If that is the case, then China should remove the 1,400 missiles aimed at Taiwan and eliminate threats to the lives of the Taiwanese people, including blocking Taiwan's entry into the WHO and keeping the Taiwanese people out of global prevention efforts. Although the KMT-CCP platform enabled a meeting between the two chairs of the KMT and CCP, the result has been a chain of events that depreciate Taiwan's sovereignty, instead of demanding the Chinese government to remove the missiles aimed at Taiwan and cease actions that block Taiwan’s participation in the international community. The talks have become a tool for China to shift the focus from its military threat against Taiwan. The national security issues involved in chartered direct flights and the public security concerns involved with tourists coming to Taiwan need a complete examination and preparation. The excessively-optimistic attitude over the KMT-CCP platform will not only cause us to forfeit the right to bring up issues during negotiations with China, but it will also damage the national interests of Taiwan due to a lack of input from government technocrats and specialists.

5. Harms Taiwan's economic interests

When the DPP was in power, it had already used multiple channels to negotiate the issues of tourism and chartered passenger and cargo flights into Taiwan. The issue of chartered flights for both passengers and cargo were combined as a single topic for discussion. However, the KMT-CCP platform has removed the issue of chartered cargo flights, only focusing on passenger flights and Chinese tourists. The initiation of chartered passenger flights is in China’s best interest, while chartered cargo flights would be more favorable to Taiwan. With the convenience of transporting cargo directly across the strait, Taiwan will retain the R&D of high-end products and the production of precision components, while assembly operations will be located in China. If there are only chartered passenger flights with no cargo flights, China will have control of over all passenger traffic. This will cause Taiwanese people to increasingly gravitate towards China for tourism and spending, which would be detrimental to the economic interests of Taiwan.

The DPP does not oppose interactions between political parties on both sides of the strait. However, contact between parties should not involve the issues of public interests. Otherwise, it would violate the statute on cross-strait relations. As long as sovereignty is considered on equal terms and in the name of protecting Taiwan’s national interests, promoting cross-strait peace, publicizing Taiwan’s democracy, and assisting China’s democratization, the DPP is happy to see cross-strait interactions between parties. Under the principle of having no pre-conditions, the DPP is also willing to engage in talks with China. At the same time, the DPP continues to call for political parties within our country to cooperate and discuss a unified China policy in order to come to a consensus and to create a united front that would put Taiwan’s best interests first.

KMT-CCP platform Does Five Harms to Taiwan