MAC clarifies KMT honorary chairman’s remarks

The concept of “one country, two areas” is in accordance with the Constitution, which states that the ROC encompasses the areas of Taiwan and mainland China, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun said March 25.

“This notion—‘One ROC, two areas’—was established more than two decades ago in a constitutional amendment and legislation governing cross-strait relations,” Liu said. “There is no reason for it to be misinterpreted.”

There has been no change in this principle during the terms of former Presidents Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian, as well as incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou, he added.

Under the ROC Constitution and the 1992 Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, the Taiwan Area refers to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and any other area under the effective control of the government, Liu said, while the Mainland Area refers to the territory of the Republic of China outside the Taiwan Area.

Liu’s remarks came in light of comments made by Wu Poh-hsiung, honorary chairman of the ruling Kuomintang, during an annual meeting with top mainland Chinese leader Hu Jintao March 22 in Beijing.

Wu said the concept of “one country, two areas” serves as the foundation of Ma’s mainland China policy, and Taipei and Beijing share “special relations” rather than state-to-state relations.

Liu stressed that Ma’s mainland China policy is to maintain the cross-strait status quo of no unification, no independence and no use of force based on the Constitution and the 1992 consensus—an informal, oral understanding that there exists only one China, inclusive of the mainland and Taiwan, with both sides agreeing to differ on its precise political definition.

For Taiwan, one China refers to the Republic of China, Liu said. Through the mutual nonrecognition of sovereignty and mutual nondenial of governing authority, Taipei and Beijing have managed to institutionalize dialogue and cooperation over the past four years, he added. (THN)