Beijing yesterday praised President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) call for Taiwanese to refer to China as “mainland China” or “the other side,” a move that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said constituted political manipulation.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Yang Yi (楊毅) said that Chinese officials had seen reports of Ma’s comment on the matter and they welcomed the move wholeheartedly.
“There is only one China in the world and the mainland and Taiwan belong to China,” Yang said. “Before the two sides are unified, the fact that the mainland and Taiwan are part of China remains unchanged.”
Yang made the remarks during a question-and-answer session at a weekly press conference in Beijing.
Ma suggested that government officials refer to China as “mainland China” or “the other side” verbally or in written documents at a tea party with leading government and legislative officials on Feb. 7.
DPP legislators have accused Ma of denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty by using such designations.
Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) defended Ma’s call, citing Article 11 of the amendments to the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution, which he said stipulates that the rights, obligations and relationship of the people of the “free area and mainland area” must be regulated by special laws.
Article 2 of the Act Governing Relations Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) also defines the “mainland area” as ROC territory outside the “Taiwan area,” he said.
Ma has said that China is part of ROC territory, as stated in the Constitution.
Meanwhile, Yang yesterday offered a boilerplate answer to the question by a Taiwanese reporter as to why China was pressuring Taiwan to change the name it used at the Conference of Governors of South East Asian Central Banks.
“Regarding the issue of Taiwan’s participation in international organizations or activities, our attitude and position remain clear,” Yang said. “The two sides can make perfectly logical and reasonable arrangements through pragmatic negotiations under the precondition that there are no ‘two Chinas’ or ‘one China and one Taiwan.’”
As for Ma’s intention to seek re-election next year, Yang said Chinese officials had seen related reports and he emphasized that peaceful development across the Taiwan Strait was important.
“The peaceful development of cross-strait relations meets the expectations of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and brings genuine interest to them,” he said. “We are willing to work together with Taiwan to continue to push forward the peaceful development of cross-strait ties.”
Reacting to Beijing’s warm reception of Ma’s comments, the DPP yesterday accused Beijing of choosing sides, adding that this constituted political manipulation.
It also showed how Ma’s remarks have played “straight into Beijing’s hopes, interests and ways of thinking,” DPP spokesperson Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) told the Taipei Times last night.
“Inadvertently, perhaps, Ma has fulfilled China’s ‘one China’ policies through those remarks, shown by the comments from the Taiwan Affairs Office,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VINCENT Y. CHAO
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a