President Ma Ying-jeou says that Taiwan has come to a consensus in support of preserving the status quo in relations with mainland China. His comments came Saturday as part of his National Day address.
“The political leaders here today, from different parties, have all voiced support for preserving the status quo," said Ma.
"That kind of common support is quite rare, but it shows the government’s cross-strait policy of the past seven years is not biased towards mainland China while selling out Taiwan. Nor does it undermine our sovereignty. In fact, it has become mainstream public opinion."
Ma said that over the past seven years, peaceful development in cross-strait relations had transformed the Taiwan Strait from a “flashpoint” to “an avenue of peace.”
However, Ma said he was concerned about whether his cross-strait successes could be maintained after his presidency ends. He listed five principles that have helped maintain the status quo during his term in office.
The first, based on the framework of the Republic of China Constitution, is the three principles of “no unification, no independence, and no use of force.” He called that the “Taiwan Consensus”, supported by 80% of the public.
The president also spoke about the “1992 Consensus”, in which Taiwan and China agree that there is “one China” with respective interpretations. Ma said that was the most important principle, and that it was supported by more than 50% of the people of Taiwan. Ma said that without the 1992 Consensus, the phrase “maintaining the status quo” was just empty words that could never become a reality.
Ma’s other principles included putting Taiwan first, addressing urgent matters and easy issues first, and dealing with economic matters before political ones.
Ma said that if the next ROC president was willing to abide by these principles, “cross-strait relations will continue to develop smoothly.”