Cross-strait affairs cannot be decided unilaterally, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, in a rebuttal of a claim by Chinese Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Liu Jieyi’s (劉結一) that China dominates cross-strait relations.
Liu on Sunday told state-run China Central Television (CCTV) that Beijing’s ability to dominate cross-strait relations would grow this year and that cooperation between “the compatriots across the [Taiwan] Strait” would increase.
“Taiwan’s independence forces will continue to provoke incidents, but the mainland will have total ability to prevail against those risks... Cross-strait relations will make a great leap toward unification,” he said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The council released a statement saying that Liu lied in his remarks about Taiwan and in touting the success of his office’s propaganda work.
The development of cross-strait relations cannot be decided unilaterally by one party and a hegemonic power cannot expect to bully and bribe the other side into submission, the council said.
“It is the solemn charge of the Taiwanese people that the government defend the Republic of China on Taiwan,” it said.
“China should understand that its arbitrarily determined ‘one China’ principle has no market in Taiwan, and that it must respect Taiwan’s democratic institutions and calls for democracy by its people,” it added.
In related news, Xinhua news agency yesterday said that China would commence a year of anniversaries tomorrow with a major speech about Taiwan by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
China this year is celebrating its 70th year of founding.
Xi is to give a major speech in Beijing’s on the 40th anniversary of the “Message to Compatriots in Taiwan,” Xinhua reported.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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