Tsai Ing-wen Should Give Direct Response to the Question of Whether or Not She Favors “No Taiwan Independence”

News Release

          KMT Cultural and Communications Committee

                                                                                                   August 31, 2011

Tsai Ing-wen Should Give Direct Response to the Question of Whether or Not She Favors “No Taiwan Independence”

DPP chairwoman and Presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen has yet to give her response to the question of whether or not she supports the idea of “no Taiwan independence.” KMT spokeswoman Lai Su-ju said on August 30 that Tsai had been vague on the issue, adding that Tsai lacked the stature of a leader as a Presidential candidate. Lai urged Tsai to give a direct response to an important question that concerned the people in this country, saying that Tsai should stop resorting to an evasive manner on the question.   

Lai said that the KMT’s position on the issue of “Taiwan Independence vs. Unification” was crystal clear. KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou said on many occasions that the KMT adamantly adhered to the principles of “no unification, no independence and no use of force” under the framework of the Republic of China Constitution, which was also the “status quo” favored by the people of Taiwan.

Lai said that Tsai’s proposal of a “Taiwan consensus” in the DPP’s “Platform for the Next Decade” had been vague as Tsai was unable to give a clear explanation of what “Taiwan consensus” meant.

Lai added, “If Tsai dares not state that she supports the idea of ‘no Taiwan independence,’ then she should stop talking about a ‘Taiwan consensus’ because the maintenance of the status quo is the common denominator for the people of Taiwan and ‘no unification, no independence and no use of force’ is in fact the maximum consensus in Taiwan.”

On the other hand, with regard to Tsai Ing-wen Campaign Office spokeswoman Hsu Chia-ching’s remarks that “The DPP will not comment on issues related to the 1992 Consensus,” KMT spokesman Charles Chen questioned, “Does this indicate that the DPP wants to step back from the issue? Or, just like on the ECFA issue, when the DPP couldn’t explain themselves clearly, do they intend to retreat from the fight?”

Chen stressed that the “1992 Consensus and the ECFA issue” were closely related and could not be separated, adding that they were the basis for peaceful cross-Strait developments.

Chen said that Tsai should not back away from these two issues, adding that Tsai should not refrain from expressing her position on the issues in the future.     

【Editor’s Note: DPP chairwoman and Presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen repeatedly said that Mainland China should respect Taiwan’s main stream vox populi. However, what is the main stream vox populi? The main stream vox populi means the public opinion supported by the majority of people, i.e., the results of every general election.

The DPP’s Chen Shui-bian won the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections with 39.3% and 50.1% of the votes, respectively. In both elections, Chen did not list Taiwan independence in his campaign platform. Instead, he used the DPP’s Resolution on Taiwan’s Future in his campaign platform, which argued that Taiwan was an independent state with her national title the Republic of China.

Everyone knows that a sizeable number of people in Quebec, a province in east-central Canada, support independence. However, the pro-independence groups have yet to win the majority in any referendum or elections. Therefore, the pro-independence groups cannot claim that they represent the vox populi of Quebec.   

If Tsai Ing-wen publicly declares that Taiwan independence is a part of her campaign platform in the 2012 Presidential election and wins the election, then she can say that her advocacy represents the main stream vox populi.】

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