Taiwan party members quarrel over China affairs

Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials have gone head-to-head with each other over next week's discussions on forming a China affairs committee.

Former Premiers Frank Hsieh and Yu Shyi-kun bickered fervently over the issue of “one China”, which DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang described as "a hot-headed matchup".

The China affairs committee was introduced by the DPP this year as it seeks a new direction for its cross-strait policy. Party members hinted that Yu's opinionated view on the China policy might be a forerunner of the upcoming deliberation on the committee.

According to Yu, the “Normal Country Resolution” approved by the DPP congress in 2007 was a solid statement clarifying its position on Taiwan's sovereignty.

“The party should be crafting its vision statement for the establishment of an independent country. I don't understand why the party does not talk of these things,” Yu said.

The resolution stipulated that the nation should “accomplish rectification of the name 'Taiwan' as soon as possible and write a new constitution”. It also highlighted the need for the nation to hold a referendum to “emphasise Taiwan's independent statehood at an appropriate time”.

Hsieh had pointed out during a Central Standing Committee meeting that acceptance of the “one China policy” by the 1999 Resolution on Taiwan's Future was contradictory to the “Normal Country Resolution's” vision of a new constitution. He said that the party needed to clarify such contradictions.

Yu rejected Hsieh's perspective, saying that the statement in the 1999 Resolution that “Taiwan refers to itself as the Republic of China” does not imply an acceptance of “one China”.

“In fact,” he said, “the resolution opposes entirely the concept of one China.”

Hsieh later rebuked any implication that he accepted the “one China with different interpretations” policy.

According to party caucus convener Ker Chien-ming, Hsieh had initiated a unified explanation of the so-called “1992 Consensus” and “one China with different interpretations”.

The “1992 Consensus” is alleged to have its origins in a 1992 meeting at which the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China reached an agreement on the idea of “one China with different interpretations”.