離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Mayor Ko says ‘one China’ comments out of context
Taipei Mayor Ke Wen-je answers questions about city government policies at a press conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Fang Pin-Chao, Taipei Times
By Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je （柯文哲） yesterday said that comments he made that appeared to support the “one China” principle had been taken out of context.
“I told [Chinese media] that the main point of ‘one China’ should be content, not symbolism,” Ko said. “[China] always says ‘one China,’ but it should first state clearly the content of ‘one China.’”
In an interview published in several Chinese media outlets yesterday, Ko was quoted as saying that “because in reality, no one in the world today believes there are two Chinas, ‘one China’ therefore is not an issue.”
Taipei City Government spokesman Sidney Lin （林鶴明） said Ko followed up that remark in the interview by saying: “What is more important and truly cared about by the world is what the content of the so-called ‘one China’ is.”
The Chinese media reports also quoted Ko as reiterating his position on cross-strait exchanges, with a few new phrases, saying that cross-strait exchanges must “respect past signed agreements” as well as the two sides’ “history of interaction,” while “allowing the people on both sides of the [Taiwan] Strait to pursue a better common future.”
Ko has previously said that exchanges should occur on “the existing political foundation,” under the principles of mutual awareness, mutual understanding, mutual respect and mutual cooperation, while holding to the spirit of viewing both sides of the Taiwan Strait as a close family.
He said his formulation represented a “new 2015 view” of cross-strait ties, which, if accepted by both sides, could become a “2015 consensus.”
Ko’s description of cross-strait exchanges has grown more complex amid growing uncertainty over the fate of this year’s Taipei-Shanghai Forum.
Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong （楊雄） has said the forum can only be continued on the foundation of the “1992 consensus.”
The “1992 consensus” refers to a supposed understanding reached during cross-strait talks in 1992 that both Taiwan and China acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what that means. However, then-Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） legislator Su Chi （蘇起） said in February 2006 that he had made up the term “1992 consensus” in 2000 when he was head of the Mainland Affairs Council.
Ko declined to say if his new statements represented a partial acceptance of the “1992 consensus” or to comment on the content of “one China” or what the “common future” of cross-strait ties might be.
Ko’s status as an independent has led to hopes that he will have additional leeway in furthering cross-strait ties without acknowledging the “1992 consensus,” which Beijing insists is the “premise” of cross-strait talks.
Chinese media outlets yesterday quoted him as saying that, because he did not have the “baggage” of the Democratic Progressive Party or the KMT, his appearance was an opportunity to break the cross-strait “stalemate.”
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
