September 26-October 2, 2011
Headline News
“1992 Consensus” hoax exposed as WHO memo on “Province of China” found
Reported by Lin Yi-ying
Written by Lydia Ma
The discovery of an internal memo of the World Health Organization (WHO) written last year in which Taiwan was referred to as “Province of China” has irked many civil society organizations in Taiwan. It has also called into question the credibility and viability of the much touted “1992 Consensus”, if such a consensus ever existed in the first place.
A press conference on September 23, 2011, called by various organizations, including Taiwan Nation Alliance, World United Formosans for Independence, Taiwan Society, and Taiwan Association of University Professors, focused on whether the gist of the 1992 Consensus meant that Taiwan was part of China.
These organizations’ representatives berated President Ma Ying-jeou for his slow and reserved response to the degradation of Taiwan’s international status during his presidency. They also asked to know about President Ma’s own interpretation of the 1992 Consensus.
The 1992 Consensus was the outcome of a meeting between semi-official representatives from China and Taiwan in which both sides recognized and agreed on the “one China” principle, but left it up to Taipei and Beijing to interpret the meaning of “one China” on their own.
According to Dr. Wu Shuh-min, President of Taiwan Society, there were strong suspicions that Taiwan’s admission to the World Health Assembly as an observer came as result of some private agreement between the Ma administration and Beijing. Now, the latest revelation about this WHO memo seems to confirm those suspicions.
“By referring to Taiwan as a province of China, Taiwan has theoretically lost its sovereignty. If Ma is reelected, there is no way for us to know how he will literally sell-out Taiwan to China!” Wu said.
With debates on the truth behind the 1992 Consensus and a recent admission by KMT Legislator Su Chi that there was no such consensus because he invented the term in order to break the cross-strait deadlock and alleviate tension, World United Formosans for Independence Chairman and Yikuang Presbyterian Church member Ng Chiautong, said this confusion ought to be clarified and the truth revealed immediately.
He added that the memo combined with Su Chi’s admission has given Taiwanese enough grounds to believe that there was no such thing as the 1992 Consensus in the first place. In other words, the international community has always recognized that there is only one China – The People’s Republic of China.
Having said that, Ng cautioned President Ma against using the 1992 Consensus as bait to fool the electorate in the run up to his reelection campaign.
