Wed, Feb 22, 2023 page1

• China’s political, military threats to continue, MAC says

  • By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
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  Beijing is expected to continue using political and military threats, as well as people in Taiwan who support unification, to push Taiwan into becoming part of China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a report published yesterday.

  The report, which the council publishes periodically, analyzes five aspects of the situation in China: its internal affairs, foreign relations and military moves in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as changes in Hong Kong and Macau, and cross-strait relations.

  Beijing has intensified its work to “accelerate unification” with Taiwan, the report said.

  

  Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Tai-san speaks at the council in Taipei in an undated photograph.

  Photo: Taipei Times files

  Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Huning (王滬寧) and Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) this month told visiting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) leaders that Taiwan and China can increase exchanges and form partnerships on the basis of the so-called “1992 consensus” and opposition to independence, it said.

  The “1992 consensus,” a term former MAC chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the CCP that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.

  Song also called for cross-strait exchanges to restart as he met with representatives from religious groups in Taiwan, and agricultural and fishery industries to express his condolences after Buddhist master Hsing Yun (星雲), founder of the Kaohsiung-based Fo Guang Shan, died on Feb. 5, the report said.

  In the past two years, Beijing unilaterally suspended imports of agricultural, fishery and food products from Taiwan, but revealed that some Taiwanese products have been allowed in after businesses completed registration, the report said.

  Beijing has urged Taipei to resume cross-strait flights, as well as the “small three links” connecting China with Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, it said.

  “Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told US President Joe Biden in a G20 meeting in Indonesia in November last year that Taiwan is the core of China’s core interests and a red line that must not be crossed,” it said. “In response to US House of Representative Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s potential visit to Taiwan, the CCP also highlighted that it would prevent external forces from intervening in China’s internal affairs and frustrate the plan of pro-Taiwan independence activists.”

  China claimed that combat drills in waters and airspace around Taiwan in August last year were launched in response to provocative actions by Taiwan, it said.

  “It is expected that the CCP would intensify use of its two-pronged approach toward Taiwan: In addition to the persistent political and military threats, it would continue to use unification supporters and platforms to promote cross-strait exchanges and facilitate the work of unification,” the report said.

  Meanwhile, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense reiterated that this year it would focus on preparing for war, and improving joint and all-domain combat capabilities, the report said.

  The Liaoning aircraft carrier conducted drills near Guam for the first time in December last year, it said, adding that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army had monitored a US carrier.
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