The Bored One China Framework

Drawing a line in the sand.


A bunch of more or less KMTers offered a "Broad One China Framework" this week which the media presented as if it were a major policy proposal rather than a KMT-inspired distraction. The Taipei Times bought into the "bipartisan" propaganda media narrative. I guess I shouldn't be surprised... (Taipei Times):

Seven politicians and academics, headed by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-te (施明德), yesterday unveiled the “five principles” of a proposal, named the “broad one-China framework” (大一中原則), that they say could resolve the domestic political divide and stalemated cross-strait relations.

The group crosses party lines, and includes former Mainland Affairs Council vice chairman Chen Ming-tung (陳明通), who served under the DPP administration, and former National Security Council secretary-general Su Chi (蘇起), who served under President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration.

Shih said the five principles include “respecting the present ‘status quo’ and not changing it unilaterally,” adding that the “status quo” is that the Republic of China (ROC)  and People’s Republic of China (PRC) have coexisted since 1949, with bilateral relations seeing a gradual transformation from “fighting with each other” to “governing separately.”

.....

Both sides should promise not to use military force or sign any military agreement that is unfavorable to the other side, and both should be allowed to join international organizations, such as the UN, and establish normal state relations with other countries, he said.

The group doesn't cross party lines. Shih Ming-te, who is nearly always presented in the media as a former DPP Chairman rather than current KMT supporter, left the DPP (or was thrown out) around 2000 and has worked for the KMT ever since. He and two other DPP turncoats, Sisy Chen and Hsu Hsin-liang, along with some far rightist KMTers, formed the Mountain Alliance, which followed the KMT line. Shih ran against the DPP in elections as a distraction and vote sink for pan-Green votes. After heading up the Nationalist faux "anti-corruption" protests against Chen Shui-bian, Shih vanished into obscurity, only to seek the limelight again by accusing the DPP's Tsai Ing-wen of being gay. He gives every indication of being a KMT tool. The media, locally and internationally, generally ignores that to make the narrative more interesting than the sordid reality of petty betrayal and self-seeking that Shih appears to represent.

Simply note the presence of Ma's former right-hand man and, according to some, Rasputin-style alter ego Su Chi, and you'll know what's going on. ADDED: One longtime observer remarked that Su Chi's association with Shih Ming-te in this endeavor is actually a signal of how marginalized Su has become.

That said, the key here is the little poison pill. I've bolded in the last paragraph I've excerpted, which would forbid Taiwan from making alliances with Japan, the US, and other powers threatened by Chinese expansionism. Cute, eh?

In any case, as the TT reported today, the idea is vanishing faster than thin fog on a summer morning...

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