“Stability” is to be the core of China’s Taiwan policy, as the word figured repeatedly in Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s (李克強) annual report to the Chinese legislature last week, academics told a seminar held by the Institute for National Policy Research yesterday.
The symposium focused on China’s “two sessions” — the annual meeting of the Chinese National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference — as well as South Korea’s presidential election.
The call for stability implies that the current situation is unstable, institute chairman and president Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂) said.
Photo: CNA
The main political goal of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) this year is to ensure the success of the party’s 20th National Congress in November, Taiwan Thinktank consultant Tung Li-wen (董立文) said, adding that extending Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) term is the unspoken objective of the party.
All of the government’s work, including its Taiwan policy, must be in line with this goal, he said.
Li mentioned “stability” 81 times in his report, echoing Xi’s use of the word in a speech given at the Central Economic Work Conference held in December last year, Tung said.
Taiwan issues were touched on only briefly in the report, which reiterated the so-called “1992 consensus” and firmly opposed Taiwanese independence, Tung said.
While last year’s report admonished the party to “fully protect Taiwan compatriots’ well-being, equal rights, cross-strait exchanges and integrated development,” this year’s report admonished them to “implement the party’s overall strategy for resolving Taiwan issues in the new era and firmly oppose interference by foreign forces,” he said.
The report showed that China’s hopes of integrated development with Taiwan are not high, Tung added.
The “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the CCP that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” while each side has its own interpretation of what “China” means.
China might lay out a clearer Taiwan policy at the congress, but it is likely to match general expectations, Tamkang University China studies professor Chang Wu-ueh (張五岳) said.
Although Taiwan should pay attention to the “party’s overall strategy for resolving the Taiwan issue in the new era,” the general structure of China’s Taiwan policy has not changed, Chang added.
Citing China’s aim to achieve 5.5 percent GDP growth this year, Cross-Strait Policy Association secretary-general Wang Chih-sheng (王智盛) said the estimate is Beijing’s most conservative in three decades and surprising, even given the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, its “dual circulation” economic strategy and US-China trade tensions.
China’s economic data are typically inflated, Wang said, adding that this calls the country’s stated growth rate into question.
Regarding foreign policy, Li’s report focused on business and trade cooperation with other countries and how not to become “isolated” on the global stage, National Cheng Kung University political science professor Wang Hong-zen (王宏仁) said.
China’s frequent participation at international events reflects its efforts to build relationships with other countries, and avoid possible isolation or sanctions, the professor added.
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