Before the meeting between Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平), Chu advocated a “deepening” of the so-called “1992 consensus,” and prior to that, former Taiwan Provincial Assembly speaker Kao Yu-jen (高育仁) — Chu’s father-in-law — had said that Chu should “go beyond” the “1992 consensus” and integrate with China on a wider scale. After the meeting, the nature of these statements was finally revealed, indicating that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are part of “one China,” thereby diminishing Taiwan’s status as a sovereign nation. As a result, The Associated Press reported that the meeting confirmed the aim of eventual unification between China and Taiwan.
Any reference to the Republic of China (ROC) that Chu made in Xi’s presence was merely referring to the nation founded by Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), but he did not once mention the present ROC government. This is because Sun is still used by the CCP in its “united front” work. It is not unexpected then that a lot of people are now talking about “one nation for the CCP,” although some people seem to have misheard Chu and think that he said “one nation for the people,” one of Sun’s principles of democracy.
To play his part in the selling out of Taiwan, Chu praised the close relations between the KMT and the CCP before his trip to China, and asked why the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) does not have open dialogue with the CCP. This is an utterly shameless question. Does the KMT want the DPP to be China’s slave just because it has itself been enslaved by the CCP?
The KMT was ravished by the CCP, and now it wants the DPP to be raped alongside it.
In China, the CCP has eight so-called “democratic” factions within the party, and with Chu’s visit to China representing President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), there is now a ninth.
The last thing Taiwan needs is to see the DPP turning it into a threesome and becoming the 10th faction. In this regard, Chu has indeed surpassed Ma in monopolizing relations between Taiwan and China, and the DPP is not taking the bait.
To give Chu some courage and support prior to their meeting, Xi told Taiwan that China would be unyielding in terms of the “1992 consensus.” Otherwise, as Xi threatened: “The Earth will move and mountains will shake.”
Xi proposed five points on cross-strait relations during the meeting, one of which was that without the “1992 consensus,” there can be no peaceful cross-strait relations, thus implying that if Taiwan does not accept the “1992 consensus,” there is a risk of war.
Over the past several years, Xi and his group of military advisers have made blatant belligerent, provocative remarks, but after receiving strong responses from the US and Japan, they would not dare make a scene about the recently strengthened US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Security and Cooperation.
Yet, at the same time, China cannot function without an enemy that unites the party and fosters solidarity among Chinese citizens.
Thus, China has instead chosen to pick on the feeble and powerless Ma and Chu for its own entertainment and to show off its awe-inspiring might.
Chu took this step disregarding the consequences, which was necessary for him to earn the CCP’s trust after recently having become the new KMT chairman. After whistle-blowing Web site WikiLeaks mentioned Chu’s special relationship with the US, Chu had to take action to make it clear that he is on board with China and has turned his back on the US.
In addition, Taiwanese businesswoman and Tung’s Co president Susan Tung (董淑貞), who is vice president of the global Friends of Ma Ying-jeou Association (馬英九世界後援會) and a board member of China’s United Front Work Department’s Chinese Overseas Friendship Association, told Chu that there are more than 350,000 cross-strait marriages and that if each couple gave birth to two children and invited the husband’s parents to live in China, there would easily be 1 million people returning to Taiwan to vote.
Chu tacitly agreed with this arrogant and naive comment, because one provision of the constitutional reform he has proposed would allow absentee voting, enabling Taiwanese living abroad to vote without having to return to Taiwan.
This is a smarter idea than Tung’s, but are Taiwanese so easily deceived?
Having experienced extensive intimidation from China, it is unlikely that Taiwanese will be afraid of China’s newest round of threats.
Moreover, the US and Japan already have an organized stance to respond to any threats from China.
Still, Taiwan must remain alert against the CCP’s alluring use of bribery.
Paul Lin is a political commentator.
Translated by Zane Kheir
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has offered Taiwan a paradoxical mix of reassurance and risk. Trump’s visceral hostility toward China could reinforce deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. Yet his disdain for alliances and penchant for transactional bargaining threaten to erode what Taiwan needs most: a reliable US commitment. Taiwan’s security depends less on US power than on US reliability, but Trump is undermining the latter. Deterrence without credibility is a hollow shield. Trump’s China policy in his second term has oscillated wildly between confrontation and conciliation. One day, he threatens Beijing with “massive” tariffs and calls China America’s “greatest geopolitical
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) made the astonishing assertion during an interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle, published on Friday last week, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a dictator. She also essentially absolved Putin of blame for initiating the war in Ukraine. Commentators have since listed the reasons that Cheng’s assertion was not only absurd, but bordered on dangerous. Her claim is certainly absurd to the extent that there is no need to discuss the substance of it: It would be far more useful to assess what drove her to make the point and stick so
The central bank has launched a redesign of the New Taiwan dollar banknotes, prompting questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators — “Are we not promoting digital payments? Why spend NT$5 billion on a redesign?” Many assume that cash will disappear in the digital age, but they forget that it represents the ultimate trust in the system. Banknotes do not become obsolete, they do not crash, they cannot be frozen and they leave no record of transactions. They remain the cleanest means of exchange in a free society. In a fully digitized world, every purchase, donation and action leaves behind data.
The Honduran elections seem to have put China on defense. The promises of trade and aid have failed to materialize, industries are frustrated, and leading candidate Salvador Nasralla, who has increased his lead in the polls, has caused Beijing to engage in a surge of activity that appears more like damage control than partnership building. As Nasralla’s momentum has grown, China’s diplomacy, which seems to be dormant since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2023, has shown several attempts to avoid a reversal if the Liberal or the National party — which also favor Taipei — emerge as winners in the
RSS