Taiwan should abandon its “hallucinations” about independence, as any push toward that outcome would be “poison,” Chinese state-run media said, following the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) landslide win in Saturday’s presidential and legislative elections.
DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) won 56 percent of the vote to sweep aside her main rival, Chinese Nationlist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫).
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Saturday said that Beijing’s policy toward Taiwan would not change because of the election results and that it would continue its adherence to the so-called “1992 consensus” and its opposition to Taiwan independence.
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Xinhua news agency said any move toward independence would act like “poison” and cause Taiwan to perish.
“If there is no peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan’s new authority will find the sufferings of the people it wishes to resolve on the economy, livelihood and its youth will be as useless as looking for fish in a tree,” it said.
The Global Times, published by the Chinese Communist Party’s official People’s Daily newspaper, said in an op-ed that if Tsai’s administration sought to “cross the red line” the way that former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) did, Taiwan would “meet a dead end.”
“We hope Tsai can lead the DPP out of the hallucinations of Taiwanese independence, and contribute to the peaceful and common development between Taiwan and the mainland,” it added.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that matters relating to Taiwan were an internal matter for China.
“There is only ‘one China’ in the world, the mainland and Taiwan both belong to one China, and China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity will not brook being broken up,” the ministry said.
In Taipei, the Mainland Affairs Council called on China to respect the results of the presidential and legislative elections.
The elections demonstrate the mature development of Taiwan’s democracy, the council said in a press release on Saturday night, adding that all sectors in Taiwan and China should respect the choices of Taiwanese voters and its democratic system, and continue to promote the peaceful and stable development of cross-strait relations.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to