On the afternoon of March 9, President Ma Ying-jeou and Vice President Wu Den-yih attended a forum to mark the 25th anniversary of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). In addition to praising the SEF for crafting the 1992 Consensus, bringing about the Koo-Wang Talks, and institutionalizing cross-strait talks—all milestone breakthroughs—the president urged the incoming administration to heed the following four suggestions: consolidate cross-strait peace and maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait; accept the 1992 Consensus, whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means; allow the Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement to enter into force soon, complete negotiations on the Cross-Strait Trade in Goods Agreement as quickly as possible, and take an active part in regional economic integration mechanisms; and establish cross-strait representative offices as soon as possible.
Commenting on the first milestone—the SEF's crafting of the 1992 Consensus—the president pointed out that a plenary session of the National Unification Council convened on August 1, 1992 by former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) adopted a resolution regarding what the term "one China" means. The resolution stated: "Both sides of the Taiwan Strait insist that there is only one China. However, the two sides have different opinions as to the meaning of 'one China.'" After bilateral talks in Hong Kong in October of that same year ended inconclusively, the two sides each returned home. Taiwan did not give up, but instead sent a letter to propose that "each side verbally states its interpretation of what 'one China' means." The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) later sent a return letter to the SEF indicating its acceptance of the proposal. It is thus quite clear that the 1992 Consensus was put forward by Taiwan and accepted by the mainland; the mainland did not force Taiwan to accept it.
President Ma further stated that in 1993, semi-government bodies authorized by the two sides met in Singapore and reached consensus on four technical matters. This was the first meeting by such entities since Taiwan and mainland China had come under separate rule more than 40 years before. The 1993 talks in Singapore, known as the Koo-Wang Talks, constituted the second milestone achievement of the SEF.
After the Koo-Wang Talks, however, cross-strait relations underwent some changes, and cross-strait talks were not resumed until after President Ma took office in 2008. Using the platform for talks created by the SEF, the two sides over the past seven-plus years have conducted 11 high-level talks and signed 23 agreements, and the ministers in charge of cross-strait affairs from each side have met and addressed each other by their official titles. More importantly, said the president, he met in Singapore on November 7 last year with mainland leader Xi Jinping (習近平). This was the first meeting between the leaders of the two sides since Taiwan and mainland China came under separate rule 66 years before. They exchanged views on how to consolidate cross-strait peace and maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, and confirmed face-to-face for the first time that both sides regard the 1992 Consensus as the political basis for cross-strait relations. The two leaders reached a consensus in Singapore on several issues—establishing a hotline between the heads of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO); allowing graduates from two- and three-year technical colleges in the mainland to transfer to technical colleges (and technical universities) in Taiwan; and allowing mainland passengers to transit in Taiwan on their way to other destinations. President Ma also noted that over the past few months, the two sides have been steadily working to implement these plans. These developments constitute the SEF's third milestone achievement: the establishment of institutionalized cross-strait talks.
Over the past seven-plus years, remarked the president, the government has worked methodically via the MAC and the SEF to build up the infrastructure for cross-strait relations, and cross-strait rapprochement, peace, and cooperation have already yielded spillover benefits. Interaction between Taiwan and the mainland has brought many peace dividends, and as a result, cross-strait relations have escaped the vicious cycle of the past and entered a virtuous cycle.
The two sides do still have disagreements, stated the president, but they now have a channel for communications, and most difficulties are amenable to resolution. However, there is probably no way at the current time to resolve certain key disagreements, such as the matter of sovereignty, so right now it would be best, he said, to first resolve other important matters.
Turning to the topic of the incoming administration, the president put forward four suggestions for his successor. First, he would like to see the incoming administration consolidate cross-strait peace and maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. The concrete progress achieved thus far has only come about, said the president, because the MAC, the SEF, and various cabinet agencies have worked over the past seven-plus years to build the necessary foundation for development of cross-strait relations, so the current state of affairs absolutely must not be taken for granted.
Second, he urged the incoming administration to accept the 1992 Consensus, whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means. A recent mention of the ROC Constitution by a mainland official has prompted some, said the president, to speak of some sort of conflict between the 1992 Consensus and the ROC Constitution, "but that is a complete misunderstanding." The 1992 Consensus and the ROC Constitution are actually two sides of the same coin. In its conduct of cross-strait policy, the government naturally acts within the framework of the ROC Constitution. The fact that each side has its own interpretation of the "one China" principle doesn't mean that anyone will construe it to mean that there are "two Chinas," "one China, one Taiwan," or "an independent Taiwan," because those designations are not permitted under the Constitution. In other words, "one China, respective interpretations" can never turn into "one China, ill-considered interpretations." "In the government's interpretation, "one China" will always be the "Republic of China."
Third, President Ma urged the incoming administration to allow the Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement to enter into force soon, complete negotiations on the Cross-Strait Trade in Goods Agreement as quickly as possible, and take an active part in regional economic integration mechanisms. The president stressed that the government should adopt policies that promote Taiwan's long-term economic development. Any prolonged delay or failure to ratify these two cross-strait agreements will have a very adverse impact on Taiwan's ability to take part in the regional economic integration process.
And finally, President Ma called upon the incoming administration to establish cross-strait representative offices as soon as possible. In the president's view, the establishment of cross-strait representative offices will greatly improve the quality of various services to people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The mainland worried at first that Taiwan was trying to define cross-strait relations as a state-to-state relationship, and to turn cross-strait relations into diplomatic relations. But in reality, he said, "that was never our intention." Cross-strait relations do not fall within the realm of international relations. What we have, he affirmed, is a very special kind of relationship, which is why it was necessary to set up both the MAC and the SEF to handle cross-strait affairs. A special situation like this must be dealt with in a special way.
President Ma stressed that over the past seven-plus years the government has worked out a method for handling cross-strait relations, and it has been proven effective, so he strongly hopes the incoming administration will continue to maintain the status quo, and that it will conduct cross-strait relations in the spirit of "putting Taiwan first for the benefit of the people."
After the president finished, Vice President Wu delivered remarks of his own. While some have claimed that the 1992 Consensus is a fabrication, he said, it is in fact based on a resolution adopted by the National Unification Council. Taiwan's SEF proposed it to mainland China's ARATS in 1992, and the latter responded that it was willing to "respect and accept" the SEF's proposal. In April 2000, then-Chairman Chi Su (蘇起) of the MAC, speaking from the perspective of a historian, described the outcome of events in 1992 as the “1992 Consensus.” Over the course of history, the commonly used names for historical events have often been coined by historians well after the fact. Examples include the August 23 Artillery War of 1958 in Kinmen, and the Reign of Zhenguan during the seventh-century Tang Dynasty. The 1992 Consensus is yet another illustration of this phenomenon.
The vice president opined that without the 1992 Consensus—whereby each side acknowledges the existence of "one China" but maintains its own interpretation of what that means—the conditions for peaceful and prosperous cross-strait ties simply would not exist. Since the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which was signed by Taiwan and the mainland in 2010, entered into force, the volume of cross-strait trade in the 539 items included on the ECFA early harvest list has risen much more rapidly than items not on the list, so the importance of the ECFA agreement is quite apparent, he said.
Vice President Wu noted that Taiwanese people working and doing business in the mainland, their family members, and people from the mainland who reside in Taiwan have all benefitted from the services provided by the SEF. The vice president then extended sincere thanks to the SEF for these services, and for all the SEF has done to promote the development of cross-strait relations.
【Source: Office of the President】