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EDITORIAL: Ma must
stop defending the lie
The so-called ¡§1992 consensus¡¨ has been fervently defended by President Ma Ying-jeou
(°¨^¤E) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government as the basis for the
development of cross-strait relations. Crediting it with being the foundation on
which Taiwan was able to sign 15 agreements with China in the past three years,
the ¡§1992 consensus,¡¨ to quote Premier Wu Den-yih (§d´°¸q), ¡§allows Taipei and
Beijing to set aside sensitive disputes over national sovereignty and focus
efforts on cross-strait exchanges in economics, culture and tourism.¡¨
Indeed, ¡§1992 consensus¡¨ has seemingly become a ubiquitous term among both KMT
officials and Chinese officials. However, what exactly is this ¡§1992 consensus¡¨
which has been branded by Ma as the best policy for handling cross-strait
affairs? He even went as far as to warn that dropping the ¡§1992 consensus¡¨
¡§would create uncertainty ¡K and would have a huge impact on both sides of the
Taiwan Strait, especially Taiwan.¡¨
According to Ma and the KMT, the ¡§1992 consensus¡¨ refers to the supposed
understanding reached during a meeting in Hong Kong in 1992 between Taiwanese
and Chinese representatives, under which both sides claim to have acknowledged
that there is ¡§one China,¡¨ with each side having its own interpretation of what
¡§one China¡¨ means.
However, leaked US cables recently released by WikiLeaks clearly suggest
otherwise.
First, Taiwan Affairs Office Chairman Wang Yi (¤ý¼Ý) was quoted by a cable issued
by the US¡¦ Beijing embassy as saying that ¡§both sides now accept and recognize
the ¡¥92 consensus,¡¦ which means that both sides essentially accept there is only
¡¥one China.¡¦¡¨
The cable, dated Dec. 24, 2008, went on to quote Wang as saying that ¡§the
improvement in cross-strait relations thus far has been on the basis of the ¡¥one
China¡¦ principle. The international community accepts the ¡¥one China consensus,¡¦
and UN-affiliated organizations also ¡¥legally accept one China.¡¦ Therefore, on
the international stage, ¡¥the rules are set and cannot be changed.¡¦¡¨
Next came a frank remark from Chinese academic Zhou Zhihuai (©P§ÓÃh) in a separate
cable issued by the US¡¦ Beijing embassy saying ¡§the Taiwan position, ¡¥each with
its own interpretation,¡¦ is tantamount to acceptance of two Chinas.¡¨ Sun
Shengliang (®]²±¨}), another Chinese scholar, also acknowledged in the cable that
the ¡§1992 consensus¡¨ ¡X as often contended by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
¡X was basically invented by then-Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (Ĭ°_)
of the KMT.
In other words, China sees the ¡§1992 consensus¡¨ as another way of describing the
¡§one China¡¨ principle, a position well understood by the DPP and many members of
the international community, while the KMT has all this time been refusing to
accept that China does not at all recognize that each side has its own
interpretation of what ¡§one China¡¨ means.
As another leaked cable suggested that Ma himself was fully aware that there are
indeed distinct differences between the ¡§1992 consensus¡¨ and ¡§one China, with
each side having its own interpretation,¡¨ it is despicable that Ma keeps
trumpeting to Taiwan¡¦s public that the two concepts mean the same thing.
Since the leaked US cables revealed that Ma and the KMT have been deceiving
themselves as well as the public, Taiwanese deserve a full explanation from Ma
and his administration on how much longer they intend to lie to the public and
continue with their insistence that something exists when it does not.
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