Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Defining the ‘status quo’ is a new paradigm

Gerrit Van Der Wees

During the coming weeks and months, there will be heated debates in Taipei, Washington and Beijing about the structure of future relations between Taiwan and China. Terms like the “1992 consensus,” the “one China” principle and the “status quo” will be bandied around with a religious fervor befitting the Middle Ages.

However, do they truly contribute to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, or is there a new paradigm that could lay the foundation for a more sustainable, long-term stability?

Tsai’s ‘status quo’ views ‘interesting,’ US official says

Taipei Times

Comments by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on cross-strait issues were “interesting” and “constructive,” and Washington looks forward to hearing more from her, a senior US official said on Monday.

US Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Asia Evan Medeiros said he follows what Tsai has to say about cross-strait issues very closely.

Tsai’s intepretation of ‘status quo’

Shih Chih-yu 石之瑜

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has proposed maintaining the “status quo” as the DPP’s policy guideline for handling its relations with China. In doing so, she has set a pivotal focus for next year’s presidential and legislative elections. To put it in a nutshell, she is questioning who is really undermining the “status quo” in cross-strait relations.

Up until now, commentators outside the DPP have been worried about its pro-independence platform and Tsai’s firm support for Taiwan’s independence, believing that she would damage the cross-strait “status quo” if she became president.

Ma’s banked credit denied by AIIB

Huang Tien-lin 黃天麟

The dramatic changes in the tug-of-war between the US and China over the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) must have been a shock to the US government. The President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration’s last-minute shady deal with China, which involved sending a letter of intent to China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to join the bank, not only surprised the public, it left them in utter shock.

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