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.
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.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS