KMT adopts new policy platform, commits to cross-strait peace

The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) plans to continue pushing exchanges across the Taiwan Strait amid the heightened instability between Taiwan and China, according to the policy platform passed Sunday by the party.

Peace across the Taiwan Strait is facing uncertainty because the government under President Tsai Ing-wen (???), who took office May 20, and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), have not renounced the pro-independence stance stated in the DPP's party platform, nor have they recognized the "1992 consensus" that the KMT government and Beijing see as the foundation for cross-strait relations, according to the KMT's newly passed policy platform.

Given the uncertainty facing relations between Taiwan and China, the KMT vows to play an active role in maintaining peace across the strait by pushing for exchanges and cooperation between the two sides for the benefit of the Taiwanese people, the KMT stated in the new policy platform passed by its national congress.

On the basis of the Republic of China Constitution, the KMT seeks to enhance the 1992 consensus and explore possibilities for ending the hostility between Taiwan and China through a peace accord, according to the party's new policy platform.

Compared to the KMT's previous policy platform adopted in July 2015 for presidential and legislative elections in January this year, the new platform keeps the 1992 consensus in the text but leaves out "the one China principle, which can be interpreted differently" by the two sides.

The text regarding the one China principle was left out, despite comments made by former Vice President Wu Den-yih (???) and New Taipei Mayor and former KMT Chairman Eric Chu (???), who said before the national congress that those words should be kept along with the 1992 consensus.

The KMT lost the presidency it held for eight years and, for the first time, also ceded control of the Legislature to the DPP, in the Jan. 16 elections.

Tsai Cheng-yuan (???), executive director of the KMT's Policy Committee, said a survey carried out by the party showed that 51.5 percent of the respondents approve of the new policy platform, while 20.2 percent are opposed to it.

Former Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (???), who remains a legislator-at-large of the KMT after the party's electoral defeat, said before the Sunday meeting of the KMT national congress that the inclusion of a peace accord would offer Taiwanese people and the current government a vision and a potential option, which everyone can discuss and build a consensus on.

The president said in her May 20 inauguration speech that she respects the historical fact that Taiwan and China, through negotiations of their quasi-official institutions, reached various joint acknowledgments and understandings in 1992, but fell short of mentioning the 1992 consensus.

This led to Beijing's suspension of official communication channels with Taiwan after May 20.

In a report to the congress, KMT Secretary-General Mo Tien-hu (???) said his party needs to win public support by striving to improve cross-strait relations and presenting a China policy that evolves with the times, amid the stalled ties under the DPP administration.

He said the party will strengthen contacts with Taiwanese businesses operating in China and cultivate a new generation of party officials in cross-strait affairs.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel