Taiwan-based bakery cafe 85°C (85度C) yesterday declared its support of the so-called “1992 consensus” and the peaceful development of cross-strait ties after Chinese netizens threatened to boycott the chain after one of its branches in the US allegedly welcomed President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) with a customized gift package.
The company’s statement on its Chinese-language Web site came one day after China’s state-owned Global Times, in an online article, denounced a Los Angeles 85°C outlet for giving Tsai a gift bag when she stopped by for coffee on Sunday, calling it “infuriating.”
Tsai made a transit stop in Los Angeles en route to Paraguay and Belize, a move that has drawn ire from Chinese authorities.
Photo courtesy of Tsai Shih-ying
She is to transit through Houston, Texas, on her return trip.
“It appears that 85°C is supportive of Tsai’s policies; at least it does not oppose them... If the company is trying to rake in Chinese money on one hand while supporting Taiwanese independence on the other, such behaviors will not be accepted and should be despised,” the article quoted Chinese American Federation honorary chairman Lu Qiang (鹿強) as saying.
Bakery cafe 85°C was established in 2003 by Wu Cheng-hsueh (吳政學), a native of Yunlin County. It later expanded to China, the US and Australia, and has more than 1,000 branches worldwide.
“Our company’s firm support for the 1992 consensus has never changed,” 85°C said in its statement.
“We oppose any conduct or rhetoric that could drive people on either side of the Taiwan Strait apart. We will continue to provide high-quality products and service to customers on both sides based on the belief that the two sides of the Strait are one family,” the company said.
Dismissing the Global Times’ allegation that Tsai received a customized gift package, the bakery chain said it was just a pillow that a staff member asked Tsai to sign for their personal collection.
“It was not a customized gift package we prepared in advance, as the media alleged,” the company said.
The company also said it was grateful to Beijing for its measures for Taiwanese, which it said have allowed it to expand in China in a smooth and orderly manner.
Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said the government denounces any actions that could disturb market order and suppress freedom of speech.
“Forcing one’s own ideologies on an international corporation is not something that should occur in a civil society,” Huang said.
The Mainland Affairs Council said it is natural and normal for the president to visit Taiwanese businesses overseas.
“[Beijing’s] pressuring of Taiwanese businesses into making political statements is a base move that will not be accepted by Taiwanese,” the council said, adding that China’s actions are not conducive to creating positive cross-strait interactions, nor would it attract Taiwanese investment in China.
The ‘1992 consensus’ refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Additional reporting by Su Yung-yao
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
HIGH-TECH DEAL: Chipmakers that expand in the US would be able to import up to 2.5 times their new capacity with no extra tariffs during an approved construction period Taiwan aims to build a “democratic” high-tech supply chain with the US and form a strategic artificial intelligence (AI) partnership under the new tariffs deal it sealed with Washington last week, Taipei’s top negotiator in the talks said yesterday. US President Donald Trump has pushed Taiwan, a major producer of semiconductors which runs a large trade surplus with the US, to invest more in the US, specifically in chips that power AI. Under the terms of the long-negotiated deal, chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) that expand US production would incur a lower tariff on semiconductors or related manufacturing
RSS