The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday called on China to “respect Taiwanese’s insistence on Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy,” and to solve problems rationally and peacefully.
The council made the remarks after the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the root cause of the problems in the Taiwan Strait is the Taiwanese government’s pursuit of independence, adding that Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory.
The Chinese ministry was responding to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) Double Ten National Day address, in which she said that a war between Taiwan and China is “absolutely not an option,” and reiterated her willingness to negotiate with Beijing.
Photo: Daniel Ceng Shou Yi, EPA-EFE
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) accused Tsai of “distorting the nature of cross-strait relations,” saying that recognition of the “1992 consensus” remains the precondition for any cross-strait dialogue.
The council said that safeguarding the nation’s sovereignty, security and democratic way of life is the biggest consensus shared by Taiwan’s people and parties across the political spectrum, and is not up for compromise.
Beijing has been trying to defeat Taiwan’s sovereignty, and undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the council said, adding that China’s rash actions and the risks they pose to the international rules-based order are “opposed by Taiwanese and condemned by the international community.”
Photo: Screen grab from Twitter
MESSAGE FROM INDIA
Separately, Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, a spokesman for India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s New Delhi branch, hung a banner outside the Chinese embassy celebrating Taiwan’s National Day, and posted a photograph of the banner on Twitter.
Indian Internet users responded to the post with messages such as “Happy Taiwan National Day,” “Taiwan, India loves you” and “India stands together with Taiwan.”
The so-called “1992 consensus” — a term that 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 Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party government has denied the existence of such a consensus.
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