The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that “only the government elected by Taiwanese can represent Taiwanese,” rejecting Beijing’s “one China” principle, which Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) endorsed on Sunday.
“Taiwan is a universally recognized democratic country and only Taiwanese have the right to decide Taiwan’s future,” the Taiwanese ministry said in a statement issued on Sunday.
The statement came in response to Wang’s comments at a news conference in Beijing, where he said that the “reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is a definite trend of history.”
“The Chinese government’s intention to impose ‘unification’ on democratic Taiwan highlights the fact that its ideology goes against common values shared by democratic countries,” the Taiwanese ministry said.
The nation would adhere to the principles of “peace, parity, democracy and dialogue” in cross-strait relations, it said, citing President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) speech on Wednesday last week during her inauguration for her second term.
Both sides are responsible for maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the Chinese government’s suppression of Taiwan’s international space runs counter to that goal, it said.
Meanwhile, in an opinion poll released yesterday by the Taiwan-based Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association, a majority of respondents said they agreed with Tsai’s position on cross-strait relations.
Nearly 89 percent supported Tsai’s principles for interactions with Beijing — “peace, parity, democracy and dialogue” — and 81.3 percent agreed that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) should do his part to maintain cross-strait stability, the survey showed.
However, the survey showed that while 71.7 percent were satisfied with Tsai’s position on cross-strait relations expressed in her inaugural address, only 67.6 percent are confident that she can handle cross-strait ties properly.
A majority said they were concerned about relaxing restrictions on Chinese visiting Taiwan and that a Hong Kong national security law proposed by Beijing would damage the “one country, two systems” framework in the territory, the survey showed.
The survey was conducted on Thursday and Friday among 1,074 respondents in Taiwan.
Fan Shih-ping (范世平), a professor of politics at National Taiwan Normal University, said that the survey results show the development of a new consensus among Taiwanese regarding cross-strait relations.
This consensus focuses on supporting cross-strait dialogue, demanding dignity during such dialogue, remaining cautious in dealings with China and supporting Hong Kong’s democracy movement, Fan said.
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