The following is the DPP’s response regarding Kuomintang and President Ma Ying-jeou’s definition of the current relationship between Taiwan and China:
I. “Chinese-Taipei” is the result of Chinese oppression of Taiwan, it should not be a title that Taiwan should use or strive for as an ultimate goal.
The KMT government has announced that it will use the name of Chinese-Taipei to apply for Taiwan’s membership to the World Health Organization (WHO), but this is a strategic error that will give Taiwan a lack of basic negotiating power. The People’s Republic of China containment policy on Taiwan’s international space has never changed. Take, for instance, the World’s Organization for Animal Health where Taiwan had previously been a member under the title Republic of China, however under Chinese pressure, Taiwan was forced to change its title from the Republic of China to Chinese-Taipei. It is thus apparent the title of ‘Chinese-Taipei’ is a product of Chinese hostility and political strategy against Taiwan.
In addition, the KMT, after its installation of power to the presidency, has ceased to represent Taiwan as “Taiwan” or even “Republic of China” but has started to accept Chinese-Taipei as a future reference for Taiwan. This acceptance of Chinese-Taipei as an appropriate title for Taiwan is a mistake made by the KMT that forces Taiwan to accept this definition even before the start of negotiations and is also demonstrative of the KMT’s flawed principles and goals when dealing with Taiwan’s diplomatic relationships. This will threaten Taiwan’s efforts in getting recognition in the international arena.
II. If we were to follow President Ma’s standards, then over 80% of Taiwan’s populations are considered DPP fundamentalists.
Recently, the office of the President openly criticized Chairwoman Ing-wen Tsai’s position by saying that “Taiwan’s future should be decided by the 23 million people of Taiwan” is a DPP fundamentalist position. According to public polls, over 80% of the Taiwanese population believes that Taiwan’s future should be decided by the people of Taiwan. Ma has also publicly endorsed this concept while campaigning for presidency in his speeches and political advertisements. If we go by this standard endorsed by the President and the KMT party, then, 80% of the Taiwanese people including the President are followers of the DPP’s fundamentalist position.
Conversely, the so-called “1992 consensus” actually has no bearing or recognition in Taiwan. The KMT government falsely equates Ma’s election as president as the same as the people’s acceptance of the “1992 consensus.” This is a huge mistake. In reality, whether from the principles based on sovereignty or democracy, the Taiwanese people have a basic right to choose the path to their own future. The DPP would like to remind President Ma that it is his responsibility to protect this basic right of the people.
III. The “1992 Consensus” should not be legalized or realized in order to prevent the blurring of Taiwan’s sovereign status.
The “1992 Consensus” is a political term made up by China, who uses it as another term for one China principle, and the KMT deliberately wishes to make this consensus ambiguous, in order to claim a different interpretation of this ‘One China Principle.’
However, if, in the process of re-opening negotiations between China and Taiwan, that the “1992 Consensus” becomes legalized and realized, and going as far as becoming a legal formal document, then Taiwan’s sovereign status would further weaken, and end up worse than the situation in 1992. This is a very dangerous starting point. Therefore, the DPP is ready to closely scrutinize cross-strait negotiations in the future.
6/09/2008
Department of International Affairs - Democratic Progressive Party
