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Wu comments eroded
democratic mechanisms: DPP
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The pan-green camp and civic groups yesterday criticized former Chinese
Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) for the seven-point
statement he made in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in
Beijing on Thursday, saying the political pledge without a mandate jeopardized
Taiwan’s sovereignty.
The most controversial part of Wu’s statement included his reaffirmation that
the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uphold the so-called “1992
consensus” and oppose Taiwanese independence, his call for the promotion of
national identity because both sides share the same ancestry, as well as a
reiteration of both sides’ adherence to the “one China” principle and “one
China” framework.
While opposition to independence was nothing new, it was the first time the KMT
has publicly endorsed the “one China” framework as the foundation of
cross-strait relations.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday that it vehemently opposes
the KMT’s adherence to the “one China” principle — the No. 1 guideline of
China’s ambition to annex Taiwan, which is not welcomed by a majority of
Taiwanese.
“The DPP also condemns Wu engaging in political talks, which involve state
authority, with the CCP as a private citizen, without authority from the
government. His behavior has seriously infringed upon the democratic process,”
DPP spokesperson Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) told a press conference.
Meanwhile, former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) released a statement
yesterday that said “the shared ideology of the KMT and the CCP should not
override Taiwan’s democratic establishment.”
Wu’s advocacy of a “one country, two regions” framework last year in Beijing and
the “one China” structure, which echoed Beijing’s “one China” framework this
year, has tarnished the spirit of the Constitution and made Taiwan’s status as a
sovereign country ambiguous, Tsai said.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has betrayed the people’s mandate and his duty as
president, she said, adding that Ma should immediately correct the mistake by
offering a clear explanation of Taiwan’s sovereignty to the international
community.
On Thursday evening, Honigmann Hong (洪財隆), director of the DPP’s Department of
China Affairs, said Ma and the KMT “have put the ROC [Republic of China] and its
people behind them” with the statement, adding that while both sides share the
same ancestry, the 23 million Taiwanese are entitled to decide their own future.
Ma’s moves appeared to have been carefully crafted, Hong said, citing Ma saying
that cross-strait relations are not state-to-state earlier this week before the
Wu-Xi meeting. He said the government’s interaction with Beijing has been
dictated by the KMT-CCP communication platform, which is a serious erosion of
Taiwan’s democratic mechanisms.
Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), secretary-general of the DPP caucus, said Wu’s statement, in
particular his emphasis of Chinese nationalism and ancestry, has seriously
harmed Taiwanese sentiment and Taiwan’s democratic system.
“Ma had pledged that Taiwan’s future would be decided by its 23 million people
during his presidential campaign. Taiwan’s future should neither be decided by
Ma nor by the KMT,” she said.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union said in a statement that Wu’s statement was “a
disgrace to the nation and a unilateral comment without the approval of the
legislature” with which most Taiwanese disagree.
The Taiwan Democracy Watch, a rights group consisting of academics, also said it
was seriously concerned about what it called a “constitutional crisis” because
the KMT “has made cross-strait engagement an exclusive KMT-CCP engagement.”
National Taiwan University professor Yen Chueh-an (顏厥安) said backroom politics
should not be the norm in a democracy, and that the legislature and the public
must be given the opportunity to deliberate cross-strait affairs.
“Ma has no right to authorize the KMT to conduct cross-strait negotiations and
the KMT, as a political party, has no right to be the negotiator,” Yen said.
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