At the end of March, Hung Hsiu-chu, former chairperson of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party and chairperson of the China Qingyan Peace Education Foundation, registered as a user on Jinri Toutiao, a popular news aggregator service in China, and gained over 640,000 followers on the same day.

Hung Hsiu-chu said that she hopes to hear more diversified opinions through the internet, and will try her best to convey the wishes for the peaceful cross-strait reunification to the whole world.

Hung Hsiu-chu (Photo provided to Southern Metropolis Daily)

In the interview with Southern Metropolis Daily, Hung Hsiu-chu said that she would try to promote the policy of peaceful reunification and continue to contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. In addition, she believes that "anti-China" policy could not "protect" "Taiwan", and on the contrary, it would bring turmoil to the Taiwan Straits, forcing compatriots on both sides to meet on the battleground.

"I will continue to devote myself to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."

Q: You joined the news aggregator platform of the mainland on March 29th and gained over 640,000 followers in a short time. What's your initial reason for joining the platform? What kind of message do you want to send to the political circles and media on both sides?

A: In fact, we've thought over and over again before we finally made up our mind. We believe that we live in a pluralistic and progressive society, even if there are different voices and views, we should be tolerant and respectful of each other.

It is well known that this platform has many users on the Chinese mainland, including many friends who have long been concerned about the cross-strait issues. Over the past few years, Taiwan has been under the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which stands for "Taiwan Independence" and "against China", severely impeding the cross-strait exchanges. Therefore, we hope to promote the mutual understanding and resolve disputes between residents on both sides to convey the "positive power" of the cross-strait relationship by communication and reasoning with the help of internet.

Of course, we are flattered by the great number of followers within such a short time, and we are very grateful for the attention from all walks of life. Since we bear a lot of expectations, we will try our best to promote the idea of peaceful reunification in the future and continue to contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

"Every guest in the forum highly affirms the 1992 Consensus."

Q: You held the Cross-Strait Policy Forum on March 27. What was your original intention for holding this forum? What kind of changes can the forum bring to cross-strait relations?

A: As early as last year, we started planning this forum, but it was delayed to this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On one hand, as for KMT, many members are targeting the 1992 Consensus for reform due to the party's repeated electoral defeats in recent years. On the other hand, in terms of Taiwan's internal political environment, the DPP has frequently regarded "resisting China and protecting Taiwan" as the main propaganda in recent elections, playing the "anti-China" cards, and has gained political dividends from these claims. We believe that not only will the "anti-China" policy fail to "protect" Taiwan, but will also bring turbulence to the Taiwan Straits, forcing compatriots on both sides to meet on the battleground. That is why we put ourselves forward, hoping to bring order out of chaos.

What is the 1992 Consensus? In short, it refers to the invariant "one-China principle", "seeking national reunification" and "putting aside disputes for the time being". Since some KMT members are unclear and hesitant about the 1992 Consensus when it comes to the cross-strait issue, and no one dares to say the word "reunification" out loud, many of our party supporters are beginning to feel anxious about the future of the cross-strait relationship. Therefore, I hope to make full use of this forum to provide an inclusive space for discussion as well as a platform for every comrade who intends to run for general office and the party presidency to express his/her ideas clearly as a reference for the election.

More importantly, every guest at this forum highly affirms that the 1992 Consensus had played a significant role in stabilizing the Taiwan Straits and prospering the two sides over the past 30 years. Guests and the audience also achieved great consensus in that they all agreed the 1992 Consensus is the foundation for the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the future reunification.

"There has been course content turning the facts upside down in Taiwan over the past few years."

Q: What is your opinion on the "desinicization" policy implemented in Taiwan's education system? What do you think about the current education system in Taiwan?

A: We absolutely do not agree with the education policy of "desinicization". To a considerable extent, Taiwan's current history curriculum has influenced and changed the national identity of young people and determined the descendants' perspective in viewing the mainland. The "desinicization" education policy has been adopted in Taiwan for 30 years, the originator is former Taiwan leader Lee Tenghui. Thirty years ago, most of the students in Taiwan could retell the phrase in their textbooks "to be a decent Chinese as well as a lively and excellent student". Due to the "education reform" promoted by Lee's government, "Taiwan Independence" consciousness started to slowly infiltrated students' textbooks, ranging from adjusting the order of "Chinese history" and "Taiwan history" to adjusting the curriculum ratio. What's worse, over the past few years, some curricula even cover some contents that reverse the historical facts.

When KMT was in power, although many administrators were aware of the problems with the history curriculum, they never set about pushing forward its rectification, letting the problem continue to worsen until now and causing most of the young people in Taiwan to fail to identify their own nation.

We understand that because Taiwan's descendants become less familiar with the Chinese mainland, many of our friends think that peaceful reunification is already unrealistic. However, we believe that times are different now, and that in the modern pluralistic society with more and more advanced information, many young people tend to obtain information through the Internet, instead of the textbooks only, and they can even get some inspiration from popular subcultures. Therefore, to interact with young people on the internet, we should not only convey our ideas unilaterally, but also throw out questions to give them opportunities for critical thinking. In the process of continuous dialectic discussions, we believe that many problems will be solved.

"People on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are one family."

Q: What kind of efforts do you think each side should make to eliminate the prejudice of some Taiwanese youths against the motherland? How do you think the cross-strait relations will develop in the future?

A: The formation of prejudices is not the responsibility of only one person or one party, and both sides should work together to conquer these prejudices. We constantly encourage young Taiwanese to visit the mainland and make more friends there, so that they can learn from each other, grow together, and understand each other's living environment and ideas better. The prerequisite for making friends is to let go of hatred, which is an unalterable principle. If they quarrel with each other on the internet, how is it possible to treat each other with courtesy in the real world?

That's the reason why I repeatedly emphasize the importance of trans-positional consideration. Some may not agree, but we believe that only the reunification with political consensus can bring long-term stability and peace for the Chinese nation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said, "people-to-people exchanges should be done with great effort and for a long time", which we agree with very much. He also emphasized "promoting integration of both sides through communication, mutual benefits and affection".

Since people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are one family whose blood is thicker than water, we believe that as long as we work hard for a long time, we will definitely be able to achieve the reunification with political consensus.

Author: Nancy (intern)

Editor: Monica & Jerry