The government will soften its tone and rhetoric on cross-strait issues, despite Beijing's increasingly hawkish attacks on Taiwan's leadership and Taiwan's investors doing business in China, sources said yesterday.
As President Chen Shui-bian (
Among the conciliatory measures that have been adopted recently are Chen's declaration in his May 20 inaugural speech that so long as there is the consent of the 23 million people of Taiwan, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can seek to establish relations in any form whatsoever; Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu's (
The sources said Chen's decision to soften the tone on cross-strait issues is based on three considerations. First, there are hardline and moderate factions in Beijing regarding China's policy toward Taiwan. Beijing's sternly worded comments on the Taiwan issue May 17 and May 24 indicate that the hardline faction seems to have an upper hand at the moment. If Taiwan makes a strong response, the sources said, it would give the Chinese hardliners more ammunition to intimidate Taiwan.
Second, the sources predicted, as the US will hold a presidential election in November and Taiwan will hold legislative elections in December, China now will basically adopt a wait-and-see attitude toward cross-strait ties.
While China is not likely to change its basic policy tone toward Taiwan for the moment, the sources continued, Chen's administration must begin to pave the way now for a resumption of cross-strait dialogue after the year-end legislative elections. If the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), can win more than half of the legislative seats up for grabs, the sources said, Beijing is expected to become more willing to engage with the Chen administration.
Third, the sources said, adopting a softer tone toward China could help defuse US pressure on Taiwan. Noting that Beijing has revised its strategy for dealing with cross-strait affairs, the sources said, Beijing now prefers to push the US government to force Taiwan to accept its terms. Against this backdrop, the sources said, the DPP administration must hold out olive branches and issue goodwill messages to China to convince the US government that it is sincere in wishing to forge rapprochement and reconciliation with 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
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
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