DPP needs to 'dress right' to come to cross-strait party

But according to media outlets citing portions of the report, the DPP has concluded that the row over the “1992 Consensus” was not a factor behind the loss.

Citing public opinion polls as support, it argues that when major business leaders spoke up in support of the “1992 Consensus” — and hence incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou — voters were hardly convinced.

Many factors may have contributed to the outcome of election, but the DPP has chosen to rule out this particular issue that dominated the debate between the two rival camps in the run-up to the poll.

The DPP may be right in saying the “1992 Consensus” per se was not a factor. And that may justify DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen's rejecting the consensus as a myth created by the ruling Kuomintang.

But the core of the issue has always been about a wider picture of cross-strait relations in general.

The “1992 Consensus” is a term without a fixed meaning. It is generally interpreted as a tacit agreement between Taipei and Beijing that they can disagree on the meaning of “one China.”

The term actually is loaded with a lot of implications: trust between Taipei and Beijing; Taiwan voters' faith in a party's ability to maintain stable cross-strait ties; a rosy economic outlook; or reduced chance of conflicts with China.

Voters may not accept the consensus itself, but they may have been swayed by its implications.

So for the DPP to take the “1992 Consensus” at its face value, or literal meaning, means the opposition party is still unable to realize the crux of the issue.

Voices have emerged from within the DPP that it revise its pro-Taiwan independence charter and adopt a more centrist role in terms of cross-strait affairs.

Many others have objected to revising the charter, saying that there is no need to abandon the DPP's pro-independence stance.

The DPP can continue to emphasize Taiwan's sovereignty while adopting a new approach to cross-strait relations acceptable to China, they argue.

The problem of such an argument is that it ignores the fact that China will never accept any approach that could underscore or lead to Taiwan's formal separation from the mainland.

Beijing and Taipei have been on a honeymoon since Ma became president simply because China trusts that improved ties with a KMT-governed Taiwan will eventually bring the island back under its rule.

Anything less than a formal renouncement of the independence cause by the DPP will be unacceptable to China.

Even if voters in Taiwan accept a DPP that continues to embrace the independence cause four years from now, it will still be unable to convince Beijing that it should also accept the DPP.

Cross-strait affairs, for Beijing, are a means to force Taiwan onto the track toward unification. Beijing is not rushing for a result, and it could freeze cross-strait ties again just as it did when the pro-independence Chen Shui-bian was president.

So it does not really matter what approaches or policies that the DPP may come up with. China could simply refuse to play with someone it does not trust.

Former DPP Legislator Kuo Cheng-liang has remarked that the KMT and the Chinese communists are handling cross-strait ties as if holding a party that requires participants to be dressed up. The DPP wants to join the party but refuses to wear a suit and tie.

The DPP can continue to reject the “1992 Consensus,” but in order to join the party, it will have to convince China that it is not seeking Taiwan's independence.

The DPP is instead trying to throw its own party, and extend its invitation to the KMT and the Chinese communists. But will they come to the party?

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