According to Chen Pingyuan, the manifesto was the product of the battle among the factions. The writers 'original intent was to establish a consensus opinion to paper over their differences, but in fact they simply brought the contradictions to the surface.
如陳平原所言，這篇宣言乃各方意見折衝下的矛盾產物，本意是想用「共同意見」來弭平相異的立場，結果卻更將矛盾浮上檯面。