HK, Macao media support mainland's response to Tsai's speech on cross-Straits ties

Media in Hong Kong and Macao said on Saturday that the Chinese mainland's Taiwan Affairs authorities' response to the inaugural speech made by the new leader of the Taiwan authorities has expressed firm stance while revealing flexibility and enough goodwill.

The media comments said the failure by Tsai Ing-wen in her inaugural speech on Friday to explicitly recognize the 1992 Consensus would make it difficult to maintain the common political foundation of the growth of the cross-Straits relations.

On Friday, the Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs authorities issued a statement, describing Tsai's remarks on the cross-Straits relations as an "incomplete test answer."

Wen Wei Po, a major Chinese language newspaper in Hong Kong, said in its editorial that the new leader of the Taiwan authorities was deliberately evasive and ambiguous about the 1992 Consensus the Mainland has repeatedly reiterated, which states that both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one and the same China.

The editorial said what the new Taiwan leader did obviously makes it hard to maintain the common political foundation of the cross-Straits relations and even more difficult to continue advancing the peaceful and stable growth of the cross-Straits relations.

The editorial urged Taiwan's new leader to take responsibility for history and the basic wellbeing of the Taiwan compatriots, explicitly recognize the 1992 Consensus and its core implications, and return to the foundation of the one China principle embodied by the 1992 Consensus.

It highlighted that only in this way can the cross-Straits relations keep moving forward on the right direction of peaceful development and the Taiwan compatriots enjoy the real prosperity and stability.

Hong Kong Commercial Daily said in a commentary that new Taiwan leader's failure to recognize the 1992 Consensus, which said both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one and the same China, has added uncertainties to the cross-Straits relations, and the consequences as well as the accountability should be taken by the Taiwan's authorities led by the Democratic Progressive Party.

In response, the mainland's calling the speech an "incomplete test answer" reflects its firm stand and flexibility, which has demonstrated enough goodwill from the mainland side, the commentary said.

Sing Pao Daily News, one of the oldest Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong, said in its editorial that despite Tsai's ambiguous attitude toward the 1992 Consensus, the mainland vowed to further expand exchanges between compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, advance cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and deepen the integrated economic and social development of the two sides as "the Taiwan compatriots share blood ties with us and there is no force that can separate us."

If the new Taiwan leader could not accept the one China principle, her plan to participate in regional economic communities will be unrealistic, it said.

Headline Daily said in a commentary that the cross-Straits relations will witness an observation period in the near future, and it will be difficult for both sides to have positive interaction if Taiwan's new leader does not recognize the one China principle.

Macao Daily News said in its editorial on Saturday that the expressions by Tsai on the cross-Straits relations have been changing constantly and are even becoming more ambiguous for a period of time.

The 1992 Consensus is the wisdom of both sides of the Taiwan Straits in seeking common ground while reserving differences and constitutes the unshakable cornerstone of the peaceful growth of the cross-Straits relations, the editorial said.

Now the cross-Straits relations are at a crucial juncture, facing a choice of the direction and the path. As for how to finish the "incomplete test answer," it depends on the future actions of the new leader of the Taiwan authorities. Endit