China is now considering the use of a "one country, four areas" formula to handle the sovereignty issue involving the mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, National Security Bureau Director Ting Yu-chou (丁渝洲) said yesterday.
"The `one country, four areas' formula is aimed at squeezing Taiwan's space in the international community following Taiwan's entry into the WTO," Ting said.
"With the `one country, four areas' formula, China seeks to prevent Taiwan from making its sovereignty an issue following its entry into the WTO," Ting said.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"The Beijing leadership has now assigned officials and scholars specializing in Taiwan affairs to work on new regulations regarding the rule of Taiwan [following unification with China]," he said.
"The regulations will be modeled on Hong Kong's Basic Law," Ting said. "Beijing leaders hope to impose the regulations upon Taiwan as they do with Hong Kong."
Ting made the remarks yesterday at a breakfast meeting with the cross-strait panel of the Economic Development Advisory Conference. He was invited to the meeting to speak on the potential impact that opening three direct links with China might have on national security.
Ting, who is soon to become the National Security Council's secretary-general, said the opening of three direct links with China will surely affect the security of the country if it was a large-scale opening.
"Our observation is that Beijing is now seeking to achieve its political purposes through economic means. As we open direct links with China, we must make sure that we have clear and definite rules to manage these links," Ting said.
"Beijing has adjusted its strategy toward Taiwan. It used to focus its efforts on intimidating Taiwan with military force and squeezing Taiwan's space in the international community. It now intends to exert influence over Taiwan through economic means," he said.
Ting said that capital management in Taiwan's business sector may also be affected.
"China's threat to Taiwan in the future will be concentrated on the high-tech industry and finance sector. The Chinese leadership thinks that a next wave of investment by Taiwan businessmen in China will be mainly from the finance, information and service sectors after both Taiwan and China enter the WTO," Ting said.
Ting said China has adopted six principles to guide its new strategy, including enlarging investment from Taiwan and encouraging Taiwanese investors to set up research centers in China. Additionally, Beijing plans to attract Taiwan's middle managers and senior technicians to work in China; strengthen Shanghai as an international finance center, challenge Taiwan's "no haste, be patient" policy on investment in China and take advantage of WTO enty to explore and occupy Taiwan's markets.
Su Chi (蘇起), former chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, yesterday declined to comment on "one country, four areas" before more detail about the formula is revealed.
Pundits yesterday said they saw no significant changes in Beijing's "one country, four areas" plan from its "one country, two systems" formula.
Lin Wen-cheng (
"There were already more than two systems existing in China [before Beijing formulated `one county, two systems'], including Hong Kong, Macao and special districts in the mainland like Shenzhen," Lin said.
"No matter how many systems or areas, the mainland has always considered Taiwan to be a local government or a special district, under which Taiwan's sovereignty didn't exist," Lin added.
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