The absence of a timeline for addressing the “Taiwan issue” in a “historical” Chinese Communist Party (CCP) resolution adopted last week indicates there is no change in Beijing’s Taiwan policy, despite saying it is central to party philosophy, National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday.
As only the third such document issued by the CCP, the historical resolution adopted on Thursday last week after the Central Committee’s sixth plenum launches Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) into the upper echelons of party history.
Although it mentions the “unswerving historical mission” of the CCP to ‘unify’ the country, it mainly serves to solidify Xi’s central position within the party, Koo told a budgetary hearing hosted by the Legislative Yuan’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Two-thirds of the resolution praises Xi, who seeks to retain power in next year’s 20th National Party Congress, Koo said.
The Taiwan comment was an obligatory mention that does not differ from previous CCP statements, he added.
Asked about US President Joe Biden’s recent comments on Taiwanese independence, Koo said that his tone was similar to the “four commitments” set out by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Double Ten National Day.
After his call with Xi on Monday, Biden told reporters in New Hampshire on Tuesday that Taiwan is “independent. It makes its own decisions.”
He later clarified that he was not encouraging independence, adding: “I said that they have to decide — they, Taiwan, not us.”
The comments were similar in tone to Tsai’s commitments that “the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China should not be subordinate to each other,” and that the future of Taiwan should be decided by Taiwanese, Koo said.
Long-standing US commitments to Taiwan based on the “six assurances” and Three Joint Communiques were also reiterated later that day by White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Koo added.
Koo also sought to assuage concern about Biden’s support for the “one China” policy during his call with Xi, saying that the US and China have different definitions of the term.
The US fully understands and has not objected to Tsai’s sentiment that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should not be subordinate to one another, he said.
US policy toward China is gradually becoming clearer, first by it firmly opposing any change in cross-strait stability by non-peaceful means, Koo said.
Washington has simultaneously adopted a clear strategy of deterrence, uniting with like-minded nations to demonstrate a military presence in the region, he added.
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