KMT urges Lai to show China 'goodwill' - Taipei Times

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Chang Rong-kung (張榮恭) yesterday called on President William Lai's (賴清德) administration to respond to China's new "incentive measures" for Taiwan in kind.

The government rebuked the measures, which were unveiled on Sunday after KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun's (鄭麗文) meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Friday.

That leaders of important political parties on both sides of the Taiwan Strait can sit down to discuss peace is a major historical development, Chang said.

Photo: Reuters

Xi responded positively to Cheng's proposals on improving people's livelihoods, he said, adding that the 10 new measures show that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is also focused on people's well-being.

The Lai administration and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have responded negatively to the measures and Cheng's meeting with Xi, Chang said.

As China has shown goodwill, the Lai administration should reciprocate, he said.

Many details must be worked out through further cross-strait communication to implement the proposals, and the KMT could be a bridge in those discussions, but a response of goodwill would be a positive start, he said.

Opponents to the visit do not need to characterize the measures as "sugar-coated poison" or the "KMT-CCP-ization" of cross-strait relations, Chang said.

"If the DPP government is willing to respond in good faith and prioritize the public's interests, then the ruling and opposition parties could engage in healthy discussions over the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, ultimately benefiting Taiwan as a whole," he said.

For example, then-KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) in February 2005 tasked Chang to visit China to assess whether Beijing would agree to the first cross-strait Lunar New Year charter flights, he said.

He said he received positive signal and helped advance the proposal.

At the time, the KMT was in the opposition, and the launch of direct flights also required approval from then-president Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration, Chang said.

In effect, the initiative was facilitated by the KMT and agreed to by the DPP government, so both sides shared credit for the outcome, he said.

When Beijing announced the 10 new measures, it did not attach requirements related to the so-called "1992 consensus" or opposition to Taiwanese independence, Chang said.

If Lai's administration were to see the measures as a goodwill gesture, it could greatly improve cross-strait interactions, he said.

The "1992 consensus," a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is "one China," with each side having its own interpretation of what "China" means.

The DPP has never acknowledged the "1992 consensus."