“There was no such thing as self-deprecation, because the communications were conducted under the principles of dignity, reciprocity and equality,” Lien said.
“The two sides discuss issues based on facts rather than emotion, so we can avoid wasting our energy on internal friction or upsetting each other,” he said.
Now compare these words to those of PRC President Hu (14th Nov 2010):
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait should communicate and negotiate on issues pertaining to the participation of Taiwan, including Taiwanese non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in international NGOs and occasions so that unnecessary confrontations and unpleasant incidents can be avoided, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) said yesterday.
Lien Chan: “I also told [Hu] that Taiwan-based NGOs have participated in international events for many years — and I think Taiwan’s NGOs have far more experiences in international organizations and events than those based in China,” Lien said. “Taiwan should not miss out.”
In response to Lien’s remarks, Hu said that such issues should be resolved through further cross-strait negotiations “to avoid unnecessary internal friction and unpleasant events in the future.”
It is very clear that both Lien and Hu are consciously and deliberately sharing the same nomenclature. Not only does Lien ape Hu in his use of the meme 'internal friction' but more worryingly the President's personal envoy seems to be setting cross-strait policy by designating relations between the ROC and PRC as internal and domestic - therefore not international. If relations between the PRC and ROC are internal then ROC sovereignty has been abrogated for the purposes of negotiations to build CBMs between the KMT and CCP.
What can we conclude? Lien appears to be working explicitly with the PRC to guide the Ma administration towards transforming ROC sovereignty from a viable and practiced international norm into a domestic concern of the PRC. Are you surprised? Is this the first time Lien has subverted Taiwan's de facto independence? Appears not. Back in 2005, when Lien made his trip to pay tribute to the Emperor as a means to building a united KMT-CCP front for opposing the Chen Administration, Lien signed away Taiwan's right to determine its own level of international participation (April 30th 2010): (Note: Lien's 5 point agreement has been the basis of the entire development of cross-strait relations since May 20th 2008)
Lien, Hu share `vision' for peace
BEIJING MEET The KMT and CCP leaders agreed on a five-point plan, based on the so-called `1992 consensus,' for further negotiations and opposing Taiwan's independence
By Caroline Hong / STAFF REPORTER
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) met with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) for more than two hours in Beijing yesterday and agreed to a five-point "vision for cross-strait peace" based on the so-called "1992 consensus."
In the much-anticipated meeting, Hu and Lien talked as leaders of their respective parties, the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in private at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
At a press conference held directly after the meeting, Lien described his talks with Hu as "sincere and natural." The animosity between the CCP and the KMT is a thing of the past, and what is important is to work together to create the future, he said.
At the press conference, KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭) said the five-point agreement emphasizes the need to resume peaceful cross-strait negotiations.
The first point, Chang said, is an agreement between the CCP and the KMT to support the so-called "1992 consensus" and to support the resumption of cross-strait negotiation. Both parties oppose Taiwanese independence and seek the peaceful stabilization of the Taiwan Strait and facilitate the development of cross-strait peace, Chang said. Both parties agree on the importance of resuming negotiations on an equal basis and on the need for cross-strait dialogue on common issues in pursuit of the common good of both countries, he said.
Second, the two parties agreed on the need to facilitate the end of the standoff between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and on the establishment of a peace agreement, Chang said.
In order to do this, he said, the KMT and CCP have agreed to push for the establishment of mechanisms to promote peaceful and stable development of cross-strait relations, such as one for military affairs to avoid military conflicts.
Third, the two parties agreed to establish mechanisms to promote economic cooperation and cross-strait interaction, he said. Examples of economic cooperation agreed upon were the opening of direct transportation links, including direct flights, and the strengthening of investment and agricultural cooperation, he said.
Fourth, Chang said, the two parties agreed to push for negotiations on Taiwanese participation in international organizations and events. A priority, he said, would be Taiwanese membership in the World Health Organization, a position which Taiwan has long coveted but has been blocked by China.
The last point, Chang said, was a plan to establish a system for party-to-party communication and talks to continue the dialogue Lien and Hu began yesterday.
Both Lien and Hu emphasized the so-called "1992 consensus" in remarks prior to their closed-door meeting.
In his words of welcome to Lien, Hu called their meeting a historic moment for the both their parties and the beginning of a new era. He said the CCP welcomes anyone who acknowledges the "1992 consensus."
Indirectly slamming President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration, Lien said: "In 1992, both nations supported the principle of `one China with different interpretations.' However, in recent years, this principle has been distorted."
"The KMT hopes to build a beautiful and bright future for both nations across the strait on the basis of the `1992 consensus,'" Lien said.
The so-called "1992 consensus" refers to an agreement supposedly made on "one China" during a meeting in Hong Kong in 1992 between Taiwanese and Chinese representatives.
The KMT has said that both sides agreed verbally that there was only one China and that both sides would retain their own interpretation of that "one China." Neither the Chen administration nor the former KMT government ever accepted that there was such a consensus.The policy of the KMT has NOT been to assert and even fight for the ROC's participation, dignity or mutual existence in the international community. It has been to concede that sovereignty by agreeing to the principle that Taiwan NEEDS to negotiate with China over its sovereign participation in the international community. Lien let the sovereignty cat out of the bag back in 2005 - last week was just a reiteration of a concession long made but forgotten by media and citizens alike.
Final point: note that it was the two parties that agreed to push for negotiation on participation, not the two nations Lien conveniently refers to later in the piece. The KMT explicitly agreed that the CCP (aka PRC) should be consulted and negotiated with to allow the sovereign ROC to participate yet this was agreed at a time when the Government was run by the DPP, a government which fiercely opposed such a move and still does. The KMT didn't even need to be in power to sell out Taiwan, they did it regardless. They ignored and actively undermined the sovereignty executive authority of the Executive Yuan and the MOFA. They acted without authority and thumbed their noses at the Government's electoral mandate and above all disrespected Taiwan's democracy in a most profound and cynical way.
Perhaps the DPP should make efforts now to reach out to Japanese parties hawkish on China to agree a five point plan for party-party relations:
- An agreement to recognise the invalidity of the 1992 Consensus.
- Establish a maritime agreement that recognises the Senkakus as Japanese territory but with joint economic exploration and free transit for Taiwanese vessels in the area including some limited fishing rights.
- Establish a rail bridge building project that links Taiwan directly to Japan through the island chain.
- The two parties agree that all Taiwanese participation in international events held in Japan will ensure that Taiwanese delegations are listed as from 'Taiwan' and not ROC, Chinese Taipei or China, Taipei. Japan will also support Taiwan's participation in other international forums.
- Establish a plan to establish a system for party-to-party communication.
I sincerely hope someone in the DPP has an idea of how to counter the KMT-CCP united front otherwise even if the DPP win all the mayorships and the 2012 Presidential election, the party will likely be as undermined and hamstrung as the Chen administrations.
