EDITORIAL: Taiwan’s sovereignty on KMT’s radarChinese state media on Saturday last week labeled two Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators as “secret Taiwanese independence advocates.”The report in the People’s Political Consultative Daily said that KMT legislators Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) and Charles Chen (陳以信) colluded with external antagonists to act against China’s interests. As China now appears to be equating ROC sovereignty claims by the KMT with ambitions for Taiwan’s formal independence, the KMT has lost its trump card, which relied on keeping details of “one China” ambiguous. According to sources, Chinese academics are saying that under unification, Taiwan could retain powers of governance, but should be an entity without sovereignty, similar to Hong Kong and Macau. It might also feel that allowing ambiguity on ROC sovereignty has made unclear its goal of unification by applying its “one country, two systems” formula to Taiwan. Neither the “1992 consensus” nor “one country, two systems” has any place in Taiwan’s future, and the KMT and China must accept that.

Source: Taipei Times February 18, 2022 22:06 UTC