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KMT remains delusional
Bill Mcgregor asks a very pertinent question (Letters, Dec. 31, page 8). To the
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), ˇ§one Chinaˇ¨ means the Republic of China (ROC)
and all the territory that is claimed to be within that polity as stated in the
1946 ROC Constitution. This Constitution does not explicitly mention Taiwan or
any other geographical area. Instead, it makes a vague reference to territories
previously considered to be part of the ROC before World War II ˇX as detailed in
the failed 1936 Constitution, rejected at the time by the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP). Neither the original 1912 ROC Constitution nor the 1923
Constitution included Taiwan as a part of the ROC for the simple reason that the
framers accepted at the time that Taiwan was Japanese territory ˇX something they
did not envisage would change in the near future.
This administration uses the so-called ˇ§1992 consensusˇ¨ to maintain the myth
that the ROC equates to China, a definition utilized to meet the Peopleˇ¦s
Republic of Chinaˇ¦s (PRC) demand that Taiwan is a part of China, whether ROC or
PRC. It is essentially a political convenience that is critical to facilitating
negotiations with Beijing. Indeed, shortly after coming to power, President Ma
Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) took great care to turn back the clock and posit Taiwan as
nothing more than a region or area of the ROC.
This KMT administration will not directly define their interpretation of the
so-called ˇ§1992 consensus,ˇ¨ since to do so would highlight the fact that the
Taiwanese government is still making an absurd claim upon the territories of the
PRC, 32 years after the rest of the world firmly rejected such a claim.
Under this retrograde KMT administration, the ROC is an independent sovereign
nation, not Taiwan. The word Taiwan, as a synonym for the nationˇ¦s title, is
used by the KMT mostly before elections to beguile voters because they know that
most people in Taiwan regard ˇ§Taiwanˇ¨ and the ˇ§ROCˇ¨ as mutually equivalent
terms, both sharing the same sovereignty and de facto independence. The KMT
charter and leadership do not share this perception. To them the ROC is
literally their nation, including all of the PRC; and Taiwan is but a small part
of it.
The celebration of the ROC centennial is evidence of their desperation to
reignite the identification of Taiwanese as Chinese, whose nation is China,
whatever the -interpretation. The key objective of the KMT remains the defense
of their ROC project, regardless of Taiwanese democracy or the wishes of
Taiwanese. To this end, the greatest threat to the KMT is not the PRC or CCP,
but the vast majority of Taiwanese who, to the KMT, insultingly deign to believe
that Taiwan is a nation separate from China as the rest of the world perceives
it.
Bill will be waiting a long time if he wishes the KMT to explicitly state their
interpretation of ˇ§one Chinaˇ¨ under the so-calledˇ§1992 consensus.ˇ¨ For the KMT,
the definition of ˇ§one Chinaˇ¨ under the fictional ˇ§1992 consensusˇ¨ is
unimportant ˇX what is critical is that it facilitates the retention of Taiwan as
Chinese territory in any form and at any cost.
BEN GOREN
Taichung
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