National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Peng Sheng-chu (彭勝竹) on Monday described the cross-strait situation over the past five months as “lax outside, but tense inside,” adding that he expects official exchanges to become even more limited.
Peng, a former air force commander, said that in many ways, China has seemed to maintain its attitude toward Taiwan from before May 20, when President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) assumed office, but it has suppressed Taiwan on various occasions.
He also said China is still watching the words and deeds of Tsai and has yet to set a tone in dealing with the Tsai administration.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
At organizations in which Taiwan is a member, China would continue to let Taiwan participate, but it would rigorously demand that Taiwan follow regulations, Peng said.
At organizations in which Taiwan is yet to become a member, its entry would depend on China’s assessment and Beijing would only consider it if the nation’s participation benefits both sides, he said.
Asked whether China would initiate a diplomatic war, Peng said such a possibility exists, but added that while pressure would continue to mount, it should not reach a breaking point.
Taiwan was unable to take part in this year’s International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly as well as an Interpol meeting mainly due to China’s objections.
Beijing has cooled ties with Taipei because the Tsai administration refuses to recognize the so-called “1992 consensus.”
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The DPP has said that no “consensus” ever existed — although Tsai said in her inauguration speech that the two sides “arrived at various joint acknowledgements and understandings” in a “spirit of mutual understanding and a political attitude of seeking common ground while setting aside differences.”
It says the “consensus” brands Taiwan as a part of China, which a majority of Taiwanese do not agree with.
Beijing sees the “consensus” as the political foundation for dialogue between Taiwan and China and has frozen dialogue with Taipei and put increasing pressure on it in the international community.
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
NUMBERs IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
RSS