Taipei’s protest against the inclusion of Taiwan in China’s pending National Security Law was expressed via Mainland Affairs Council Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言), but was rejected by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) at their first meeting in Kinmen yesterday.
Hsia told a post-meeting news conference that he conveyed the public’s dissatisfaction at the article about Taiwan in the law and a statement signed between China and Belarus, in which Minsk said it opposes Taiwan’s participation in international organizations that require statehood for membership.
Article 11 of the law stipulates that the protection of China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is an obligation for “all Chinese people,” including the people of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, and that no division is to be tolerated.
Photo: EPA
“I reiterated our positions about and the public’s negative reactions to [the two issues] and urged [China] to sympathize with the concerns of Taiwanese,” Hsia said.
Hsia said he told Zhang that China should show more kindness toward Taiwan with regard to the nation’s participation in the international community, because only by doing so can China contribute to the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.
Zhang responded by saying that what was stated in its National Security Law about Taiwan was in line with its policy, which has not changed for years, Hsia said.
“We voiced our displeasure and he explained his stance. That ended the matter,” Hsia said.
Last week, Hsia promised lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee that he would protest the law.
Hsia did not do so in public, but in a closed-door meeting with Zhang.
In Hsia’s opening remarks before the meeting, he said that China should heed discontent among Taiwanese over issues related to “security” and “dignity,” without specifying any specific events.
“Especially some recent events related to Taiwan’s security, dignity and international participation that have raised concerns among the public,” Hsia said.
The first Hsia-Zhang meeting was the third set of high-level cross-strait talks since the first official contact between the governments on either side of the Taiwan Strait took place in Beijing in February last year.
Not much progress was made in discussions about Taiwan’s bid and nomenclature in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Hsia said.
Given that the articles of agreement for the AIIB are still under discussion among its founding members, it was “still too early to” discuss these issues, Hsia said.
“With regard to the designation, we have repeatedly said that ‘Chinese Taipei’ is our bottom line. I am sure that they understand this well,” Hsia said.
At a separate post-meeting news conference, Zhang said that China “welcomes” Taiwan’s participation in the AIIB and its concerns.
“Related authorities will positively consider the concerns Taiwan has raised and stay in communication with Taiwan to explore possible ways for Taiwan to join the AIIB under an appropriate designation,” Zhang said.
On the request repeatedly made that China make Taiwan a transit point for its tourists traveling to other destinations to boost the nation’s aviation industry, Hsia was optimistic that technical issues would be ironed out mid-year.
“We hope to reach a consensus in the middle of this year,” Hsia said.
Zhang said that both sides should make preparations for Chinese tourists to transit in Taiwan to other countries, including “some measures to facilitate transit.”
When asked by reporters whether China’s repeated demand that Taiwan open the middle line of the Taiwan Strait to accommodate cross-strait flights would be one of the “measures,” Hsia said the issues were not linked.
Beijing has previously tied the transit issue to its demand that Taiwan allow cross-strait flights to take routes directly across the Taiwan Strait rather than either across the East China Sea or the South China Sea.
“There is no chance that we will open the middle line at this stage. The transit issue had nothing to do with the ban on flights passing across the middle line,” Hsia said.
They did not go into details of what the measures would be.
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