If Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) genuinely wants to ease cross-strait tensions, he should talk directly with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), not through an opposition party figure who has long left public service, Taiwanese academics said.
Former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) met with Xi on Friday.
Xi said that “as long as the coordinates are correctly set in history, the ship carrying the hope of a peaceful cross-strait unification will eventually sail to the side of victory,” while Lien proposed four ideas to improve cross-strait ties, including that both sides “find common ground on the ‘one China’ principle, while maintaining their different opinions on the meaning of ‘one China.’”
Photo: CNA
Lin Wen-cheng (林文程), a China and Asia-Pacific regional studies professor at National Sun Yat-sen University, said that despite the rhetoric about providing economic benefits to Taiwanese, Xi must be aware that Bejing’s efforts to strong-arm the country — including poaching Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and forcing airlines to call it a part of China — have angered them.
The fraught situation across the Taiwan Strait is Beijing’s doing, and while Xi mentioned “seeking common ground while shelving differences (求同存異),” this concession is offset by his insistence on using Beijing’s “one China” principle as a precondition for dialogue, Lin said.
The refusal to appreciate the Tsai administration’s position makes the resumption of dialogue between the two governments unlikely, Lin added.
Xi chose to meet Lien, because troubles with Taiwan could further complicate the US-China trade war, he said.
Whether cross-strait tensions continue in the second half of this year could depend on whether the trade war escalates, Lin added without elaborating.
Taiwan Thinktank researcher Tung Li-wen (董立文) said that Xi mentioned the phrases “correct direction” and “correct path” repeatedly during his speech as a defense of his Taiwan policy, which he intended both Taiwan and China to hear.
That Xi mentioned the phrases repeatedly during his speech indicates defensiveness, Tung said.
Xi’s avoidance of naming Tsai or the Democratic Progressive Party government and his remark that “differences in opinion should not obstruct normal exchange across the Strait” could be an invitation for dialogue and de-escalation, Tung said.
Xi had said he would respect Taiwan’s social institutions and way of life, but Beijing still went forward with jailing Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), as well as its air force and navy drills, he said.
As a result, Taiwanese do not feel the respect that Xi professed to have for Taiwan, and while Taiwanese hope for the best in him, they should continue to “listen to his words, but observe his actions,” Tung said.
During the meeting with Xi, Lien sparked controversy by saying that “cross-strait relations are not state-to-state relations and there is no room for Taiwanese independence.”
When asked to respond, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said both Lien and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) have said Lien does not represent the party.
“If that is the case, Lien represents one opinion out of 23 million, which is his own personal opinion; we should take it for what it is,” Ko said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS