Responding to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential nominee Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) recent comment that she was willing to talk with Beijing about a framework for exchange, a Chinese official yesterday reiterated the “one China” principle, saying that cross-strait relations have never been on a nation-to-nation basis.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Yang Yi (楊毅) made the remark at a press conference in Beijing in response to a question asked by Xinhua news agency about Tsai’s recent comments.
Stating that cross-strait relations rested on the foundation that Taiwan and China belong to “one China,” Yang said that refusal to adhere to the “one China” principle and insistence on the pro-Taiwan independence stance only adds to instability in the Taiwan Strait.
“How to build a framework of lasting and long-term exchange? [That’s a question] that merits a lot of thought,” he added.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Tuesday said that “China’s history is one that is fraught with division after long periods of peace, and peace after long periods of division,” leading some observers to speculate that Ma thought the cross-strait issue would be settled by “eventual unification.”
Yang said Taiwan and China should hold to “establishing mutual trust, laying aside conflicts, putting aside differences and focusing on similarities to create a win-win scenario” to properly handle the political divergences and promote the continuation of improved relations across the Strait.
However, Yang took a hard stance regarding Ma’s call for the US sell of advanced F-16C/D aircraft to Taiwan, stating China’s position against the sale.
Yang further warned the Ma administration that Taiwan should cherish the hard-won state of affairs across the Strait and should do more to facilitate the improvement of cross-strait relations.
In response to Yang, DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said Yang’s statements was friendly toward Taiwan.
Cheng said the “framework of lasting and long-term exchange” mentioned by Tsai was one of democratic values.
In the face of Beijing’s “one China” principle, refusal to recognize Taiwanese sovereignty and large numbers of military deployments threatening Taiwan, Chen added that the DPP’s insistence on Taiwan’s democratic values falls in line with the majority of public opinion.
TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER
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