Beijing should commit to democratic reforms and conduct good-faith dialogue with Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said yesterday, echoing President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) “four musts.”
As China pursues modernity and national power, the MAC calls on Beijing to share the benefits of economic prosperity and political power with its people, Chiu told a conference on political, economic and social trends in China at the Shangri-La Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei.
Transfers of power within the Chinese government should be regulated by institutions, he said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“Beijing must understand that President Tsai’s ‘four musts’ is Taiwan’s bottom line and the consensus of the political mainstream,” he said.
On Oct. 10, Tsai said in her Double Ten National Day address: “Let us here renew with one another our enduring commitment to a free and democratic constitutional system; our commitment that the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China should not be subordinate to each other; our commitment to resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty; and our commitment that the future of the Republic of China (Taiwan) must be decided in accordance with the will of the Taiwanese people.”
Taiwan would not change its promises as it prompts Beijing to put aside hostility in favor of peace and improving the cross-strait relationship, Chiu said.
Beijing should commit to healthy dialogue with Taiwan to build trust, he said, adding that the talks might help relax restrictions on exchanges when the COVID-19 pandemic eases.
The Chinese Communist Party’s increasingly draconian rule has deviated from the path to democracy, underscored by the regime’s external propaganda that glorifies single-party rule, he said.
At the same time, China is bolstering its military and competing for leadership positions at international organizations, while using economic sanctions to press others into adopting its political positions, Chiu added.
These actions signal that the regime is making a bid to change the rules and reshape the strategic environment to its own benefit, he said.
Beijing’s forcefulness in expanding its sphere of influence, and its attempts to infiltrate the political and economic systems of other countries, has prompted a backlash from the world’s democracies, he said.
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