Discussions promoted by Beijing on post-unification policies for Taiwan are a ploy to generate content that could be construed as “actual progress in reunification,” but have only a limited effect on Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Deputy Director Liu Junchuan (劉軍川) in October said that income from Taiwan after unification would be used to better the lives of the public, while TAO Director Liu Jieyi (劉結一) said in a New Year’s address that Taiwan’s peaceful way of life would be guaranteed and that its economy would grow in “a post-unification world.”
Chinese academics are also discussing ruling Taiwan under the “one country, two systems” model, sources said.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Taiwan could retain powers of governance, but should be an entity without sovereignty, similar to Hong Kong and Macau, the academics said.
The MAC said that Liu Junchuan’s comments were in line with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) cross-strait policy as summarized in “Xi’s five points,” adding that Chinese academics’ comments were also based on the policy.
Any discussion of Taiwan must follow Xi’s thinking and without further details from Xi, the only guidelines they have are “Xi’s five points,” the MAC said.
Retired People’s Liberation Army (PLA) generals have urged Beijing to draft a “Taiwan Basic Law” to provide a legal basis for retaking and managing Taiwan, saying that Beijing should establish a “Cross-Strait Great Bay District” to include Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu and Xiamen.
A subsequent report by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which said that Taiwanese stand to see a NT$20,000 increase in gross income, has “very limited effect” on Taiwan, the MAC said.
Taipei has not ruled out the possibility that Beijing might force Taiwanese businesspeople in China to oppose “Taiwanese independence” groups and include them in talks of ruling a post-unification Taiwan with the goal of building support for a “one country, two systems” model, it added.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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