Evergreen Group voices support for '1992 consensus' after flag furor in Paris

Taipei, Aug. 24 (CAN) Taiwan's conglomerate Evergreen Group said on Friday that it has supported the "1992 consensus" and opposed Taiwan independence, after an incident which plunged the entity into controversy over the lack of a Chinese flag in the Olympics decor at its Paris hotel earlier this month.

In a statement, Evergreen, which owns Taiwan's largest cargo container shipper Evergreen Marine Corp. and leading international carrier EVA Airways, said its late founder Chang Yung-fa (張榮發) had devoted his life to facilitating peace across the Taiwan Strait and had served as a pushing hand for "The Three Links," which refers to postal services, transportation and trade between Taiwan and China.

The Evergreen statement came after a Chinese content creator publicized on TikTok on Aug. 13 that he refused to check in at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Paris, where he had a booking, when he noticed that the China flag was not among those displayed in the hotel lobby.

Also read: Evergreen apologizes over Chinese flag furor at Paris hotel

In the TikTok video, the man and his team were seen trying to convince the hotel staff to display the Chinese flag in the Olympics decor, and they even offered to provide one they had taken from their vehicle.

The hotel front desk staff said, however, that the permission of the manager would be required, and that was not possible because they could not contact the manager during the weekend.

Furthermore, one of the managers said the hotel reserved the right to decorate its lobby as it chooses, adding that the Olympics decor was about to be taken down anyway.

The TikToker insisted that a Chinese flag should be put up before the decor was removed, but the hotel management apologized, saying that was not possible.

Soon after the TikTok content was posted and shared in Mandarin speaking communities worldwide, a number of Chinese travel websites have removed the Paris and Shanghai branches of the Evergreen Laurel Hotel from their booking services.

The hotel has since issued an apology for the incident, saying it had offended some of its patrons.

In Friday's statement, Evergreen said although Chang passed away in 2016, the group has always followed in his footsteps to seek cross-strait stability, emphasizing that only peaceful, stable and harmonious ties are able to build a sound economy and a good life, and to improve the welfare of people on the two sides.

The group apologized for the flag controversy again in the statement, saying it will make more effort in staff training to avoid a repeat of such furor.

Evergreen said Chang had viewed the "1992 consensus" and anti-Taiwan independence as a foundation for dialogue across the Taiwan Strait, and the founder had said he was a Taiwanese and also a Chinese, stressing Taiwan independence could send ripples through cross-strait ties, while emphasizing the importance of a stable life for people on both sides of the strait.

The "1992 consensus" was a tacit understanding reached in 1992 between the then Kuomintang (KMT) government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Chinese government.

The KMT has described it as an acknowledgment by both sides that there is only "one China," but with each side free to interpret what that "one China" means.

Beijing, however, has never publicly recognized the second part of the KMT's interpretation, and Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has rejected the formula, saying that acceptance of the consensus would imply agreement with China's claim over Taiwan.

Some political observers in Taiwan said the group's recognition of the "1992 consensus" and its opposition to Taiwan independence are expected to give Chinese authorities a way out of the controversy.

Chang Hung-yuan (張弘遠), an associate professor with the Department of International Trade of Chihlee University of Technology, said that before the U.S. presidential election in November, both Taipei and Beijing will want to maintain cross-strait stability.

Chang said if the flag furor escalates and even plunges into a vicious spiral, relations across the Taiwan Strait could worsen.

He said the Chinese authorities appeared to play down the controversy by letting the incident drop out of the most searched list on the Internet.

Wang Chih-sheng (王智盛), a member of the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association, said Evergreen's statement showed it has taken a softer stance than the hotel's by voicing support for the "1992 consensus" and opposing Taiwan independence, adding that the change could be a result of pressure from Beijing.