Tsai Ing-wen should clarify stance on 1992 Consensus: mainland pundits

Political pundits from the Chinese mainland have urged new Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen to clarify her stance on the 1992 Consensus and its essence that both sides belong to one and the same China, after she skirted round the issue in her inaugural speech on Friday.

"The 1992 Consensus is the common political foundation reached after a series of cross-Strait communications. The nature of relations between the mainland and Taiwan is an issue that Taiwan's new leader needs to be clear on," Renmin University of China professor Huang Jiashu told Xinhua.

Huang described Tsai's talking about political foundations without mentioning the 1992 Consensus as "babble."

"The mainland has made it clear that many achievements in cross-Strait relations were made on the grounds of the 1992 Consensus. Without it, there's no way cross-Strait relations can get stronger," said Wu Yongping, vice head of the Institute of Taiwan Studies under Tsinghua University.

Cao Xiaoheng, head of the Taiwan Economics Studies Institute of Nankai University, said "a cornerstone for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations has already been shaken with Tsai's failing to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus."

According to Cao, if this cornerstone becomes loose, the regular communication mechanism between cross-Strait affairs authorities and talks between the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation will grind to a halt, and exchanges and cooperation will suffer.

"Those having altered the status quo will be solely responsible for all those severe consequences," Cao warned, adding that Tsai's future words and deeds will be closely watched as they will determine the direction of the cross-Strait relationship. Endi