'One China' hurts Taiwan's sovereignty: former DPP head
CNA 2013-06-15 11:42
Tsai Ing-wen stepped down as DPP head after an unsuccessful presidential campaign in January 2012. (Photo/CNS)
The description of Taiwan-China relations as a "one-China framework" has severely hurt Taiwan's sovereignty, the former head of Taiwan's main opposition party said Friday.
Former Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen was referring to remarks made in Beijing by Wu Poh-hsiung, honorary chairman of Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang. Tsai urged Taiwan's president, Ma Ying-jeou, to correct the mistake as soon as possible and clarify his stance on the country's sovereignty to people at home and abroad.
Wu offered his definition of cross-Taiwan Strait ties during his meeting with the head of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on Thursday.
It was the first high-level meeting between the KMT and the Communist Party since Xi assumed the top posts in the party and the military last November. Xi also became China's president in March.
Tsai contended that Wu was entrusted by Ma to send the "one-China" message to Xi, severely harming the sovereignty and national dignity of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Ma disregarded his duty as ROC president and abandoned the trust placed in him by the country's 23 million people, she said.
Tsai also said that any private understandings reached by the KMT and the Communist Party do not supersede Taiwan's national system, but said any advocacy of a "one-China" framework would only hurt Taiwan internationally.
It was that "one-China principle" that the Philippines invoked recently to defend its handling of an ongoing diplomatic dispute over the death of a Taiwanese fisherman at the hands of Philippine Coast Guard personnel on May 9, Tsai said.
During Thursday's meeting, Wu underscored the KMT government's adherence to the 1992 Consensus and its stance against independence as the basis of political mutual trust.
The 1992 Consensus is a tacit agreement between Taiwan and China that there is only "one China," with both sides free to interpret its meaning.
