Koo-Wang Talks
From 27 to 29 April 1993, Wang Daohan, head of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, and Koo Chen-fu, chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation, held talks in Singapore — the first meeting between heads of authorised bodies from the two sides since 1949. They signed four technical agreements on notarised documents, registered mail, a system of contacts and meetings, and a joint agenda. The way the two bodies had handled the "one China" question the year before later became known as the "1992 Consensus", whose meaning remains disputed. Talks broke down after Lee Teng-hui's 1995 visit to the United States; Koo and Wang met again in Shanghai in 1998.
Background: Two Intermediary Bodies
After Taiwan began allowing residents to visit relatives on the mainland in 1987, cross-strait contact grew rapidly, creating practical matters such as notarised documents, mail and the repatriation of illegal migrants, yet the two governments did not recognise each other and had no official contact. In 1991 Taiwan set up the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), chaired by Koo Chen-fu, and the mainland set up the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), headed by Wang Daohan, as authorised non-governmental bodies to handle cross-strait affairs.
According to Tang Shubei, then ARATS executive vice president, President Yang Shangkun told Lee Kuan Yew during a 1992 visit to Singapore that conditions were not ripe for political talks but that economics could be discussed first; Lee passed this on to Lee Teng-hui, who then agreed to talks between the heads of the two bodies in Singapore.
The "One China" Question
Before the talks, the two sides differed over how to handle the "one China" question. On 1 August 1992 the National Unification Council chaired by Lee Teng-hui resolved that both sides acknowledged there was only one China but understood its meaning differently. At talks in Hong Kong at the end of October the two bodies failed to agree on the issue. On 3 November SEF proposed that each side state its interpretation of "one China" orally, and on 16 November ARATS cabled that it respected and accepted the proposal. In April 2000 Mainland Affairs Council minister Su Chi named this the "1992 Consensus"; its content remains disputed between the two sides and within Taiwan.
The Singapore Talks
On the morning of 27 April 1993 Wang Daohan and Koo Chen-fu met at the NOL Building in Singapore — the first meeting between the heads of authorised bodies from the two sides since 1949. Taiwan stressed parity: it declined a proposal for Wang to meet Koo at the airport, and the Singaporean hosts had the two delegations ride separate lifts. At reporters' request the two men shook hands several times across the conference table, Wang joking that "we've become actors".
On 29 April they signed four agreements: the Joint Agreement of the Koo-Wang Talks, the Agreement on the Use and Verification of Certificates of Authentication, the Agreement on Inquiry and Compensation for Registered Mail, and the Agreement on the System for Contacts and Meetings between SEF and ARATS. The Joint Agreement described the talks as "non-governmental, economic, administrative and functional", and set administrative negotiations that year on repatriating illegal entrants, joint action against smuggling and robbery at sea, fishing disputes, intellectual property protection and judicial assistance. An agreement protecting Taiwanese investment that had seemed within reach was not signed; "the rights and interests of Taiwanese investors and related issues" was instead listed for later discussion. The contact agreement provided for meetings in principle every six months between the SEF vice chairman and the ARATS executive vice president or the two secretaries-general.
Suspension and After
After Lee Teng-hui visited the United States in June 1995, the mainland suspended SEF-ARATS negotiations, saying Taiwan had violated the consensus, and a planned second round of Koo-Wang talks was postponed. In October 1998 Koo visited the mainland and met Wang in Shanghai, and arrangements were made for Wang to visit Taiwan the following year; after Lee described cross-strait ties as "special state-to-state relations" in July 1999, ARATS again broke off contact and the visit never took place. Koo and Wang both died in 2005. In 2008 the two bodies resumed institutionalised negotiations after a break of about ten years.
The agreements on notarised documents and registered mail have remained in force; by the mainland scholar Zhou Zhihuai's count, nearly four million copies of notarised documents were exchanged across the Strait over the following 30 years.
Narrative Comparison
| Source | Narrative |
|---|---|
| People's Daily commentary (7 May 2023) | Beijing treats the talks as a product of the "1992 Consensus". On their 30th anniversary the People's Daily said they "took a historic and important step in cross-strait relations", and that "in particular, the emphasis during the talks on adhering to the '1992 Consensus' became an important cornerstone for subsequent exchanges"; it defined the consensus's core as "both sides of the Strait belong to one China and will work together to seek national reunification", saying relations improve when it is upheld and become "tense and turbulent" when it is denied. |
| Ma Ying-jeou (Presidential Office releases, 2013 and 2015) | KMT President Ma Ying-jeou argued that although the four agreements were limited to technical matters, the talks were the first formal negotiations authorised by both governments since the two sides came under separate rule in 1949, and "the first fruits of the 1992 Consensus". He stressed that the consensus meant "one China, respective interpretations", was proposed by Taiwan and accepted by the mainland, and that Taiwan's "one China" is the Republic of China: "without the 1992 Consensus the 1993 Koo-Wang talks would never have happened". |
| Tsai Ing-wen and Wu Den-yih (Central News Agency, 4 January 2019) | Taiwan itself has no single view of the "1992 Consensus". Responding to a speech by Xi Jinping in January 2019, DPP President Tsai Ing-wen said: "We have never accepted the '1992 consensus.' The fundamental reason is because the '1992 consensus' as defined by Beijing is in fact the 'one China principle' and 'one China, two systems' formula." KMT chairman Wu Den-yih countered that "free interpretation of 'one China'" was the consensus, rejected the inclusion of "one country, two systems", and said the Koo-Wang talks had been held in that spirit. |
| Tang Shubei (then ARATS executive vice president) | Tang Shubei, the mainland's chief negotiator in the preparatory talks, recalled that Lee Teng-hui wanted the talks in Singapore "to show internationally that the two sides were equals"; Taiwan therefore declined to have Wang meet Koo at the airport and turned down a joint welcome reception planned by Lee Kuan Yew, who met the two leaders separately instead, and the hosts had the delegations ride separate lifts. He recalled that the two men opened by talking about Peking opera, then at reporters' request "shook hands four times facing different directions", Wang joking "we've become actors" — "from then on, every round of talks between the two bodies began with a handshake". |
Key Milestones
- NUC resolution on "one China"
Taiwan's National Unification Council resolves that both sides acknowledge one China but differ on its meaning.
- ARATS accepts oral statements
ARATS cables that it respects and accepts SEF's proposal that each side state its interpretation of "one China" orally.
- Wang and Koo meet
Wang Daohan and Koo Chen-fu meet at the NOL Building in Singapore to begin talks.
- Four agreements signed
The two bodies sign four agreements, including the Joint Agreement.
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