China yesterday expressed its dissatisfaction with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inaugural address, describing it as an “incomplete test paper.”
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office issued a statement in response to Tsai’s speech, in which many people were looking for clues about the future of Taiwan-China ties.
China said it noticed that the “new leader of the Taiwan authorities” mentioned that in 1992, the two institutions representing the two sides of the Taiwan Strait arrived at various joint acknowledgments and understandings through communication and negotiations.
Tsai also said her new government would continue to promote the stable and peaceful development of cross-strait relations based on existing realities and political foundations, the statement said.
However, Tsai did not clearly recognize the so-called “1992 consensus” nor agree to its core meaning, and she did not propose concrete ways to guarantee the stable and peaceful development of the cross-strait relationship, it said.
“On the fundamental question of the nature of cross-strait relations that people on the two sides of the Strait are most concerned about, [Tsai] adopted a murky attitude,” the statement said.
“This is an incomplete test paper,” it said.
Cross-strait exchanges have slowed since Tsai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) scored resounding victories in presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 16, achieving a complete transformation of power in Taiwan.
Tsai has refused to accept the “1992 consensus,” seen by the government of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as a tacit agreement between the two sides of the Strait that there is only “one China,” with the two sides free to interpret what that means.
Official Chinese news outlets largely snubbed Tsai’s inauguration, with searches of her name and “Taiwan” blocked on social media.
China’s state-run media were almost mute about the inauguration, with no coverage at all on national TV or major newspapers, such as the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece. Xinhua news agency took nearly three hours from when she was sworn in to report the fact in a 22-word dispatch in English.
For several hours, searches for “Taiwan” or “Tsai Ing-wen” on Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo both returned the message: “Sorry, no relevant result is found,” although her name was later unblocked.
In an editorial, the Global Times — a newspaper owned by the People’s Daily group that often takes a nationalistic tone — said Tsai’s assumption of power heralded “a new era for a cross-strait region that is characterized by uncertainty.”
DPP rule will make Taiwan “take a larger step away from the mainland politically,” it said. “Certain people are still holding on to the fantasy that ‘soft independence’ might be workable.”
“Perhaps a new round of contention is inevitable to completely drive the topic of Taiwan independence away,” it added.
Beijing has been sending assertive messages across the Taiwan Strait since Tsai was elected. It has warned against any attempt to formally declare independence and the Chinese military has mounted at least three landing exercises in the country’s southeast this month — widely seen as a threat to Tsai not to rock the boat.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
HOTEL HIRING: An official said that hoteliers could begin hiring migrant workers next year, but must adhere to a rule requiring a NT$2,000 salary hike for Taiwanese The government is to allow the hospitality industry to recruit mid-level migrant workers for housekeeping and three other lines of work after the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal by the Ministry of Labor. A shortage of workers at hotels and accommodation facilities was discussed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. A 2023 survey conducted by the Tourism Administration found that Taiwan’s lodging industry was short of about 6,600 housekeeping and cleaning workers, the agency said in a report to the committee. The shortage of workers in the industry is being studied, the report said. Hotel and Lodging Division Deputy Director Cheng
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
RSS