Taipei: Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) denounced the "1992 Consensus" as a framework aimed at annexing Taiwan, following a political meeting between China's fourth-ranking official Wang Huning and Kuomintang (KMT) Vice Chairman Hsiao Hsu-tsen in Beijing on Wednesday.

According to Focus Taiwan, the MAC, Taiwan's top government agency handling cross-Taiwan Strait affairs, issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon asserting that Beijing's "one-China principle" or the "1992 Consensus" is fundamentally aimed at "eliminating the Republic of China (ROC) and annexing Taiwan, leaving no room for the ROC's existence."

The MAC highlighted that public opinion in Taiwan has "firmly rejected" the "1992 Consensus." The KMT has consistently interpreted this consensus as an acknowledgment by both sides of the Taiwan Strait that there is only "one China," with each side having the freedom to interpret what "China" means. However, Beijing has never publicly endorsed the KMT's interpretation and continues to insist on Taipei's acceptance of the "1992 Consensus" as a prerequisite for dialogue between the two governments.

Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has never acknowledged the "1992 Consensus." The DPP argues that Beijing allows no room for the interpretation of "China" as the ROC, and that acceptance of the consensus would imply agreement with China's claim over Taiwan.

The MAC's statement came hours after Wang, the fourth-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, met with Hsiao. During the meeting, Wang expressed China's willingness to strengthen exchanges with Taiwan's political parties and civil groups on the basis of the "1992 Consensus" and opposition to Taiwan independence.

Wang's comments echoed those of Song Tao, director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, during the "KMT-CCP think tank forum" on Tuesday. During the forum, Song called for "insistence on the 1992 Consensus [and] opposition to Taiwan independence to ensure the correct direction of cross-strait relations." The forum was seen in Taiwan as paving the way for a possible meeting between KMT Chairperson Cheng Li-wun and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Hsiao, head of the 40-member KMT-led delegation participating in the forum, stated that the then-KMT government and the Chinese government reached an understanding in 1992, under which "each side verbally stated that both sides of the Taiwan Strait adhere to the one-China principle." He added that the 1992 Consensus was the shared political basis for continued cross-strait exchanges.