KMT Press Release

KMT Press Release

A Summary

KMT Culture and Communications Committee September 23, 2008

Regarding DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen’s remarks that “the controversies over sovereignty issues have not been settled,” KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung commented that DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen needed to give a full explanation of what the sovereignty of the Republic of China (ROC) meant to the DPP.

KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung listed a couple of questions which DPP Chairwoman Tsai needed to answer:

1.DPP Chairwoman Tsai has always placed an ROC national flag on her office desk. That means she is identified with the ROC. If so, what does she mean when she says the sovereignty issues have not been settled? Tsai must state unequivocally the DPP definition of the ROC sovereignty.

2.DPP Chairwoman Tsai said that a march or a massive rally was unavoidable. Will it be initiated by the DPP? Or will the DPP be hijacked by former President Chen again in organizing such activities?

KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung said that since Ms. Tsai assumed the DPP chairwomanship, she tried to make ROC sovereignty an issue. The stance of the KMT and the government over this question has been clear and has never wavered. That is, the ROC Constitution exists and the government has been operating in accordance with the Constitution. How can anyone say that “the sovereignty issues have not been settled yet?”

KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung said this year the atmosphere for the celebration of Double Ten Day would be totally different compared to the celebrations held in the past eight years. He said that the government would also expand the celebration of the centennial of the founding of the ROC in 2011. This demonstrates the KMT’s will to defend the sovereignty of the ROC since it came back to power.

The exchanges between the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Associations for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) had been disrupted for nine years. The SEF and the ARATS resumed talks in June this year. Chen Yunlin will soon visit Taiwan in his capacity as ARATS chairman. It is recalled that the SEF and the ARATS had in the late 1990’s reached a consensus that ARATS chairman would visit Taiwan. Of course, new issues might emerge during the cross-Strait exchanges, but that’s when dialogue is needed the most.

When the DPP was in power, they claimed that both sides across the Strait should hold talks on issues such as direct shipping. This time, it is expected that the talks between the SEF and the ARATS will produce positive results in this area. We have no idea why the DPP opposes such progress.

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