1992 Consensus

In November 1992, the “Association for Relations Across the Tainwan Straits”(ARATS) of mainland of China and the “Straits Exchange Foundation” (SEF) of Taiwan reached an agreement verbally on the expression of “adhering to the one-China principle” in the negotiations between the two organizations. The “92 Consensus” was reached after a gradual process. At the end of 1987, more than 30 years of cross-strait isolation was broken. As cross-strait personnel, economic and cultural exchanges began to develop, various problems arose.

In order to solve the problems, the Taiwan authorities responded to the call from the mainland of China and complied with the opinions of the people on the island. They adjusted the “three nos” policy of “no contact, no compromise, and no negotiation”. On November 21, 1990, they established an officially authorized organization, namely SEF, a non-governmental intermediary organization to contact and negotiate with the mainland of China, and deal with cross-strait affairs when it was officially “inconvenient”. In order to facilitate contact and negotiation with the SEF, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council established the ARATS on December 16, 1991, and authorized it to conduct exchanges and business negotiations based on the “one-China” principle. From October 28 to 30, 1992, the two organizations discussed on how to express “adhering to the one-China principle” in the cross-strait negotiations(using notarial certificate) in Hong Kong. The basic principle of the ARATS was that cross-strait exchanges were China’s internal affairs and should be resolved through consultations based on the one-China principle.

In negotiations, as long as the basic attitude of “adhering to the one-China principle” was made clear, the political meaning of one-China could be ignored, and the way of expression could be negotiated. The statement made by the SEF was “When the two sides of the strait work together to seek national reunification, although both sides adhere to the one-China principle, they have different perceptions of the meaning of one-China. However, in view of the increasingly frequent non-governmental exchanges between the two sides, in order to protect the rights and interests of the people on both sides, we should resolve document verification properly.” It also recommended to “express the one-China principle in oral declarations respectively”. In this regard, the representative of the ARATS considered it the main result of this discussion.

On November 16, 1992, ARATS formally wrote to SEF, pointing out that “During this discussion, representatives of your association suggest that the verbal statement related to one-China principle of the two associations can be adopted under the premise of mutual understanding, and the content of the statement is also made clear, which acknowledges that both sides of the strait adhere to the one-China principle.” “We will fully respect and accept your suggestions.”

“Now we are writing to you the main points of our oral statement: Both sides of the Taiwan Straits adhere to the one-China principle and strive to seek national reunification. However, the political connotation of ‘one-China’ is not involved in the cross-strait affairs negotiations. In this way, cross-strait notarial certificate(or other negotiations) can be properly resolved”. The letter was enclosed with the final statement provided by the SEF. On December 3, the SEF replied to the ARATS and expressed no objection to the consensus reached. Since then, the discussion on the expression of “adhering to the one-China principle” ended with the existence of two different expressions mutually acceptable to both parties. The “92 Consensus” put aside the differences in the political meaning of “one-China principle” temporarily, and made it clear that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait agreed on “adhering to the one-China principle”. It was on this basis that the ARATS and SEF successfully held the “Wang-Koo Talks” and established an institutionalized consultation and contact mechanism. Then the leaders of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party held the historic meeting in April 2005 and issued the “Common Vision for Peace and Development”. In June 2008, the two sides resumed the institutional consultations of the two sessions. The core of the “92 Consensus” is the adherence to the one-China principle, and the essence is “seeking common ground while reserving differences”. Although it is a consensus made orally, its formation and contents are clearly documented with written records, which cannot be denied or distorted by anyone or any political force. The “92 Consensus” is the political basis for maintaining peace and stability and conducting exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Straits. On the basis of adhering to the one-China principle, both sides of the strait comprehensively promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, and create conditions for conducting political negotiations, which conforms to the fundamental interests of compatriots on both sides.