President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is committed to maintaining the “status quo” and peace and stability in the relationship with China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
The council was responding to China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun’s (張志軍) comments that China’s 1.3 billion people are united in their determination to never allow Taiwan to become independent.
China has repeatedly warned the Democratic Progressive Party of negative consequences if it fails to recognize that Taiwan is a part of China under Beijing’s “one China” principle.
Meeting a group of Taiwanese business representatives in Beijing, Zhang said anything that goes against the “one China” principle would only bring tension and upheaval.
“There is no future in Taiwanese independence and this cannot become an option for Taiwan’s future,” Xinhua news agency cited Zhang as saying.
“This is the conclusion of history,” he said.
“Some people say that you must pay attention to broad public opinion in Taiwan, and that one can understand the attitude and feelings of Taiwanese formed by its special historical experiences and social environment, but Taiwanese society ought to understand and attach importance to the feelings of the 1.37 billion residents of the mainland,” he said.
Separately yesterday, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said he hopes to see more friendly exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to enhance the relationship.
“This is the Executive Yuan’s stance,” Lin said.
“It will not change,” he said.
Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said that any presupposed political framework across the Taiwan Strait would be counter to peaceful cross-strait development and would negatively affect cross-strait stability.
“The two sides should undertake coordination with sincerity rather than a presupposed political framework,” he said.
Citing Tsai’s inaugural address, the council on Wednesday said that the government would “conduct cross-strait affairs in accordance with the Republic of China Constitution, the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and other relevant legislation.”
Tsai has shown the utmost flexibility and goodwill on cross-strait ties, the council said, calling for the two sides to pragmatically face and deal with cross-strait relations.
The council also said the two sides must set aside the baggage of history, cherish the hard-earned fruit borne of the more than 20 years of bilateral interactions and negotiations, and engage in positive dialogue for the benefit of their people.
Additional reporting by Alison Hsiao
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