The Chinese government yesterday warned Taiwan that the passage of a proposed new law governing cross-strait relations could seriously damage the basis for talks, and that Beijing opposed any obstacles to developing ties.
China has regarded Taiwan with suspicion since president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won January’s presidential and legislative elections on the back of a wave of anti-China sentiment.
In 2014, Sunflower movement protesters fearful of China’s growing economic and political influence occupied the Legislative Yuan’s main chamber for weeks, demanding more transparency.
The protests over the 2013 cross-strait service trade agreement, which aimed to open up investment from both sides in industries such as banking, healthcare and tourism, were the largest display of anti-China sentiment in Taiwan in years.
The DPP is proposing that the legislature first passes a so-called cross-Taiwan Strait supervision law before it considers agreeing to the trade pact.
China is worried that the law would stymie future agreements with Taiwan.
Asked about the law, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman An Fengshan (安峰山) said the basis for talks between the two sides should not be damaged.
“Anything that damages the basis for consultations and negotiations between the two sides of the Strait, interferes in or impedes relevant progress or puts up man-made blocks on the development of ties, we will resolutely oppose,” An said at a regular briefing.
He did not elaborate.
The trade deal has stalled in the legislature although the manner in which the nation moves forward in the current February-to-May session will be seen as a sign of how Tsai plans to steer Taiwan-China ties.
Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng (高虎城) last month urged Taiwan to pass the trade pact.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching