China’s “one country, two systems” model is to a large degree about Taiwan remaining autonomous, a Chinese academic said on Saturday.
Zhou Zhihuai (周志懷), head of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Taiwan Studies, made the comment after US President Barack Obama on Friday told his year-end news conference that “Taiwanese have agreed that as long as they’re able to continue to function with some degree of autonomy, that they won’t charge forward and declare independence.”
The “one country, two systems” concept was the brainchild of former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), which he put forth during a meeting with then-British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in September 1982.
Deng used the policy to highlight his promise that Hong Kong would be allowed to keep its freedoms when it was returned to China in 1997.
Several Taiwanese academics have since said that while the framework was put into practice in Hong Kong, it was originally designed for “unification” with Taiwan.
Under the “one country, two systems” model, Taiwan would retain a high degree of autonomy in military and foreign affairs activities, Zhou told a forum in Beijing.
“Military affairs, an international presence and participation in international organizations would all be free of hindrance from us. This is the core aspect of ‘one country, two systems,’” Zhou said.
Solving the “Taiwan problem” would require a significant amount of time, but China would not permit moves toward Taiwanese independence in the interim, Zhou said.
Citing a statement that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) made last month during a commemorative event for Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), Zhou referred to “six anys.”
“[China] will not permit any person, any organization or any political party at any time, using any means to tear any part of Chinese territory away from the country,” he said.
The telephone call between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US president-elect Donald Trump earlier this month was “a mishap and a provocation,” Zhou said, adding that the move gave impetus to the “delusions of Taiwan separatists.”
Those who believe that Trump will support Taiwan independence after he takes office are “gravely mistaken,” Zhou said.
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS