Taipei, May 4 (CNA) A scholar said Monday that ruling Kuomintang Chairman Eric Chu's （朱立倫） talk of the "1992 consensus" while meeting the head of the Communist Party of China (CPC) earlier in the day reflected his hopes that exchanges between the two sides could be expanded to the international realm.
Chao Chun-shan (趙春山), a professor of Tamkang University and chairman of the Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies (亞太和平基金會), said Chu's comments also signaled his intention to consolidate the consensus but not to go beyond or expand the meaning of the consensus.
Chu met Xi Jinping 習近平）, CPC general secretary and Chinese president earlier in the day in Beijing.
But Tung Chen-yuan (童振源), a professor at National Chengchi University and a former deputy chief of the Mainland Affairs Council, said that Chu did not reap any significant benefits from his first meeting with Xi.
During the Beijing meeting, Chu said he hoped regional economic cooperation could be promoted on the basis of the "1992 consensus."
The "1992 consensus" refers to a tacit understanding reached between Taiwanese and Chinese representatives in 1992 that there is only one China but both sides are free to interpret what that means.
The proposal did not receive a warm response from Xi, according to Tung.
China did not offer benefits to Chu (and the KMT) and stopped short of committing to allowing Taiwan greater international space during the meeting between the KMT and CPC leaders, Tung said.
That could be because China is worried that the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) may win the presidential election in 2016 and could reap whatever benefits were offered during the meeting, Tung argued.
Because China did not promise any cross-strait policies that might benefit Chu and the KMT, the meeting will not help Chu if he wants to run for the presidency in next January's election, Tung said, further reducing the likelihood of a Chu run.
The KMT chairman has so far insisted that he will not participate in next year's presidential election.
During the meeting, Chu expressed the hope that the two sides could promote cooperation based on the "1992 consensus" and work together on issues such as regional peace, environmental protection and economic cooperation.
(By Chou Yi-ling, Sophia Yeh and Evelyn Kao)
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