The Mainland Affairs Council countered Beijing's criticism of the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) planned protest against China's proposed "anti-secession" law yesterday, saying that China would have to clean up its own mess.
"He who ties the bell on the tiger must also take it off," a council statement read, indicating that, as the troublemaker, China, should put an end to the trouble the bill has created.
"No matter what means China employs to dilute or cover the law, there is no way to mask the law's ridiculous and deceptive nature," the statement read.
Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office chief Chen Yunlin (
Chen made the remark after the DPP said it expected to attract up to 500,000 people to a rally to protest the law, which would make it illegal -- in Beijing's view -- for Taiwan declare independence from China. The rally is to take place on March 26.
"A few separatists seeking Taiwan independence ... distort the anti-secession law mislead and cheat the majority of their Taiwan compatriots, and stir up feelings against the mainland," the Taiwan Affairs Office official said.
"The DPP even said [they would] take further action to sabotage cross-strait relations," Chen added.
Xinhua quoted Chen as saying that Taiwan "again attempted to push cross-strait relations to a dangerous edge, arousing indignation from Chinese at home and abroad."
The law, almost certain to be passed tomorrow by China's rubber-stamp parliament -- the National People's Congress -- gives the Chinese military the legal basis to attack Taiwan if it formally declares independence. At the same time, Beijing insists that "non-peaceful means" will be used only as a last resort.
Council spokesman Chiu Tai-san (
"China needs to seriously reconsider how the people of Taiwan will react to this law," Chiu said, alluding to the fact that the protest was a result of China's proposed legislation.
"Chen does not take into account the fact that a majority of Taiwanese people are opposed to the law," Chiu said.
"If China chooses to view the Taiwanese people's opposition to violence and love for peace as the destruction of cross-strait ties, China would be making yet another big mistake and would be greatly misjudging the country," the council statement said.
China's first mistake, according to the council, was its "unilateral move to pass the bill."
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS