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.
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