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<h3 style="margin-top:0;"><a style="font-weight: 500; font-size: 21px;line-height: 30px; margin-top:25px; margin-bottom: 10px;" href="http://u.osu.edu/mclc/2017/08/22/kmt-pulls-pro-unification-plank-from-platform/" target="_blank">KMT pulls pro-unification plank from platform</a></h3>
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<p>Source: SCMP (8/21/17)<br />
<a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2107662/kmt-pulls-pro-unification-plank-party-platform">KMT pulls pro-unification plank from party platform</a><br />
Taiwan’s opposition party withdraws backing for peace treaty talks with the mainland<br />
By Lawrence Chung</p>
<p>Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang has pulled a pro-unification plank from the party’s platform, a move analysts say is certain to rile Beijing.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">In a vote reportedly orchestrated by new KMT leader Wu Den-yih on Sunday, the party’s national congress approved removal of calls for a peace treaty with the mainland before eventual reunification, an idea introduced by Wu’s predecessor Hung Hsiu-chu.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">The congress also reinstated a long-standing definition of the “1992 consensus” which acknowledges that there is only one China, but either side can have its own interpretation of what that China stands for.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">The revised KMT platform also calls for opposition to Taiwanese independence and maintains the status of “no unification and no use of force”.</p>
<p>[<a href="https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2095611/why-beijing-will-be-watching-taiwans-new-kmt-leader-gears">Why Beijing will be watching as Taiwan’s new KMT leader gears up for local elections in 2018</a>]</p>
<p class="v2-processed">The consensus is an understanding made by KMT and mainland negotiators in 1992 to head off political differences in order to return to talks.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">Former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT used this “one China, two interpretations” model to engage Beijing, leading to eight years of warming cross-strait relations during his two terms as president from 2008.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">But the KMT’s failure at the polls in 2016 convinced Beijing that the approach was not sustainable, analysts say.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">After she became party leader last year, Hung shifted focus away from the “two interpretations” part of the strategy and concentrated on the “one China” element.</p>
<p>Wang Kung-yi, a political science professor at Chinese Culture University, said Beijing would not welcome a return of the Ma approach.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">“With the KMT now an opposition party following its defeat by Tsai Ing-wen of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, which controls both the government and the parliament, Beijing will find it difficult to accept Wu’s return to the old model in advancing cross-strait relations,” Wang said.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">He said that by revising what was seen as a pro-unification platform supported by Hung, Wu hoped to win the support of voters not keen on close ties with the mainland or eventual unification.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">Wu faces an uphill battle ahead of next year’s local government elections, a litmus test for the 2020 presidential race.</p>
<p>[<a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1931047/hung-hsiu-chu-elected-first-woman-leader-kuomintang">Taiwan's ousted presidential nominee Hung Hsiu-chu elected as Kuomintang's first woman leader</a>]</p>
<p class="v2-processed">“If he is able to score some points in next year’s local government elections, he will have a chance to stand for the 2020 presidential poll; otherwise, he would have to bow out to take responsibility,” Wang said.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">Ni Yongjie, deputy director of Shanghai Institute of Taiwan Studies, said the change in platform would suggest to Beijing that Wu was not sincere in improving cross-strait ties.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">“By specifically mentioning the different interpretations, Wu appears to adhere to the 1992 consensus and the no unification and no independence strategy adopted by Ma,” Ni said.</p>
<p class="v2-processed">“But actually the different interpretations are another form of the special state-to-state theory advocated by [the island’s former leader] Lee Teng-hui.”</p>
<p class="v2-processed">Hung also criticised the new amendment, saying she feared Beijing would see this as an idea to promote an independent Taiwan under the “Republic of China” framework.</p>
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by <a href="mailto:denton.2@osu.edu">denton.2@osu.edu</a> on August 22, 2017 </div>
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