Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told China to mind its own business yesterday after Beijing said Taiwan was risking war by pushing for a new constitution and referendums.
The Cabinet said China was being "irrational" and interfering with its internal affairs, and Taiwan's top policymaker for Chinese affairs criticized Beijing for persistently using the threat of force.
"Military threat is not an effective solution to cross-strait problems. It shouldn't even be an option," Tsai said in a speech to delegates of the Overseas Chinese Commission yesterday.
For two straight days, China's state-run press had focused on its Taiwan policy.
Wang Zaixi (王在希), vice minister of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, was quoted as saying on Wednesday that Taiwan's "extreme push for independence" crosses China's red line and risks war.
Analysts say that while China is closely watching developments in Taiwan, an escalation of tensions was not expected for now.
"China sees the issues of a new constitution and referendum as hot potatoes in cross-strait relations," said Chao Chun-shan (
"But I don't expect China to go beyond rhetoric before the election in March because past experience shows it will only fan anti-China sentiment in Taiwan," he said.
Washington said on Wednesday it would be unacceptable to use force to settle the long-standing dispute between China and Taiwan, and opposed any attempt by either side to unilaterally change the status quo.
As part of his re-election campaign, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has angered China by calling for a new constitution and a law that allows referendums to be held to decide major policy issues.
Chen has said both steps would deepen democracy in Taiwan
But analysts think Chen is using them as tools to prod the nation's ambiguous political status quo and push it towards a permanent split from China.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard