Scholars: Letter from Taiwan isn't good news

Announcement failed to mention 1992 Consensus, casting shadow on relations

The new chief of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation took office on Monday with no mention of the "1992 Consensus", showing that the island's administration is reluctant to pursue stronger cross-Straits ties, scholars said.

Island leader Tsai Ing-wen's office announced at the end of August that Tien Hung-mao would be the new chairman of the foundation. But a letter from the foundation to its mainland counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, informing it of Tien's appointment, did not mention the consensus, which acknowledges that the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China.