The Chinese government released a statement on the Taiwan issue after midnight on May 16. Since the statement was authorized by the government, and was issued so close to President Chen Shui-bian's (
The speech shows the carrot and the stick approach, as it included hardline principles and threats as well as flexible and pragmatic suggestions. It was not necessarily "an unprecedented severe threat to Taiwan," as the opposition camp claimed.
The statement repeatedly attacked Chen's "five noes" principle accusing him of lacking honesty and credibility, firmly insisting on the "one China" principle while refusing to tolerate Taiwan's independence. From this perspective, whether Chen would mention the "five noes" again in his speech was not a concern to Beijing anymore. Nevertheless, the statement did not mention the "one country, two systems" policy either. Although it insisted on the "one China" principle, it did not specify the concrete content of this principle. This time, Beijing's conditions for cross-strait development were not based on Taipei's acceptance of the "one China" principle. Instead, the statement simplified Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen's (
Among the seven suggestions in the statement, the first suggestion vacuously but positively responded to Chen's call for building a "peace and stability framework." Apart from the old issue of the opening of cross-strait links, Beijing also added the negotiation of Taiwan's international survival space and closer economic cooperation on the basis of reciprocity.
The seven suggestions were not necessarily all good for Taiwan. Still, changes such as preliminary recognition of Chen's "peace and stability framework" and the mention of Taiwan's need for international space had positive meanings. This shows that US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly's statements that the US "continues to urge Beijing and Taipei to pursue dialogue as soon as possible through any available channels" and "the US continues to be a strong supporter of Taiwan's participation in international organizations" affected the attitudes of Chinese President Hu Jintao (
The statement was the most important message since the new leadership took control of Taiwan affairs in January, and its content varied from Jiang's eight points. The attacks on Chen's honesty and credibility, as well as the insistence on the "one China" principle, satisfied the demands of the hawks. On the other hand, the changes demonstrated the pragmatic components of China's thinking on Taiwan, showing that Hu and Wen have noted that "Taiwan recognition" has become a mainstream value, and that it's necessary to deal with the issue pragmatically. The statement was also a positive response to Kelly's words. The statement shows that although Beijing is not too optimistic about the cross-strait issue, the situation is not hopeless.
Lai I-chung directs foreign policy studies at the Taiwan Thinktank.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
Weeks into the craze, nobody quite knows what to make of the OpenClaw mania sweeping China, marked by viral photos of retirees lining up for installation events and users gathering in red claw hats. The queues and cosplay inspired by the “raising a lobster” trend make for irresistible China clickbait. However, the West is fixating on the least important part of the story. As a consumer craze, OpenClaw — the AI agent designed to do tasks on a user’s behalf — would likely burn out. Without some developer background, it is too glitchy and technically awkward for true mainstream adoption,
A delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials led by Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is to travel to China tomorrow for a six-day visit to Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing, which might end with a meeting between Cheng and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The trip was announced by Xinhua news agency on Monday last week, which cited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) as saying that Cheng has repeatedly expressed willingness to visit China, and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Xi have extended an invitation. Although some people have been speculating about a potential Xi-Cheng
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is leading a delegation to China through Sunday. She is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing tomorrow. That date coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which marked a cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations. Staging their meeting on this date makes it clear that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intends to challenge the US and demonstrate its “authority” over Taiwan. Since the US severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, it has relied on the TRA as a legal basis for all
The ongoing Iran conflict is putting Taiwan’s energy fragility on full display — the island of 23 million people, home to the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturing, is highly dependent on imported oil and gas, especially that from the Middle East. In 2025, 69.6 percent of Taiwan’s crude oil and 38.7 percent of liquified natural gas were sourced from the Middle East. In the same year, 62 percent of crude oil and 34 percent of LNG to Taiwan went through the Strait of Hormuz. Taiwan’s state-run oil company CPC Corp’s benchmark crude oil price (70 percent Dubai, 30 percent Brent)
RSS