Is Taiwan For Sale?

The News Lens
Date: 2019/11/26
By: Raphael Lin
Translated by:  Brian Hioe

As something like a magical spell in Taiwanese politics at this point, the “1992 Consensus”

emphasizes on the existence of “One China” but each side of the Taiwan-China straits has “respective interpretations” of what it means. Individuals from all walks of life have fought over the meaning of the “1992 Consensus.”

To clarify what the “1992 Consensus” means and whether this notion helps or hurts Taiwan’s future, we shall begin by unpacking the origin of the 1992 Consensus, and determine whether such consensus even exists.

The historical reality of the 1992 talks

The “1992 talks” consisted of two talks, both of which took place in Hong Kong. They were meant to discuss “practical matters” regarding document verification and registered mail services between Taiwan and China.

These two talks took place in March and October respectively. During the second talk, which is what we normally refer to when we talk about the “1992 talks,” Taiwan was represented by Xu Hui-you (許惠祐), then-chairperson of Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF); and China was represented by Zhou Ning (周寧) from the advisory board of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS).    [FULL  STORY]