1992 Consensus

The 1992 Consensus is a political term referring to the alleged outcome of a meeting in 1992 between the semi-official representatives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-led People's Republic of China (PRC) in mainland China and the Kuomintang (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. The consensus is often credited with establishing a diplomatic foundation for semi-official cross-strait exchanges beginning in the early 1990s and is a precondition set by the PRC for engaging in cross-strait dialogue.

Whether the meetings truly resulted in a consensus is disputed within the ROC. There was never any formal agreement or declaration on both sides acknowledging the "consensus". The KMT understanding of the consensus is "one China, different interpretations" (一中各表, 一個中國各自表述), i.e. that the ROC and PRC "agree" that there is One China, but disagree about what "China" means (i.e. ROC vs. PRC). The PRC's position is that there is one China (including Taiwan), of which the PRC is the sole legitimate representative of China, and does not formally acknowledge the term "with differing interpretations", repeatedly omitting the phrase in official documents. This discrepancy has been criticized by Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has been the ruling party since 2016. The DPP has pointed out that the meetings never truly achieved any "consensus," therefore never acknowledged its existence and also rejects any claim that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are "One China."

Despite political divisions in Taiwan, the Constitution of the Republic of China still reflects the original Kuomintang-era position that both Taiwan and mainland China are part of one China under the government of the Republic of China. This constitutional framework has not been formally amended and stands in contrast to the Democratic Progressive Party's Taiwan-centered policy, which regards Taiwan and the mainland as separate entities, but it also contradicts the PRC's interpretation of the consensus who claim itself as the sole legitimate government of the whole China and conflating it with one China principle.

Critics contend that the term “1992 Consensus” was not actually used at the time of the 1992 meeting. Instead, it was coined later, in April 2000 by Su Chi, a former National Security Council secretary-general. Former President of ROC Lee Teng-hui, a Kuomintang (KMT) leader during his 1988–2000 term, expressed skepticism about the 1992 Consensus in 2006. Later, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) President Tsai Ing-wen, who served from 2016 to 2024, criticized the consensus in a January 2019 speech, associating it with the PRC's "one country, two systems" framework.