Tue, Jan 03, 2023 page3

• Xi’s softer tone is no policy change

  FALSE SECURITY: Beijing often uses phrases such as ‘one family’ to trick people into believing that cross-strait tensions are Taipei’s fault, a politics professor said

  • By Chen Yu-fu, Aaron Tu and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporters, with staff writer
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  Although Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) avoided strong language in his New Year’s address, it does not mean that Beijing’s intentions toward Taiwan have changed, experts said on Sunday.

  Observers have speculated at an easing of Chinese aggression toward Taiwan, as last year’s mention of “one country, two systems” in Xi’s annual address was replaced with milder language.

  Calling the two sides of the Taiwan Strait “members of one and the same family,” Xi said that he “sincerely hope[s] that our compatriots on both sides of the Strait will work together with a unity of purpose to jointly foster lasting prosperity of the Chinese nation.”

  

  Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a New Year address in Beijing on Saturday.

  Photo: AP

  This stands in contrast with his equivalent statement from last year’s address: “The complete reunification of our motherland is an aspiration shared by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”

  Also absent were slogans such as “uniting the motherland,” the “one China” principle and the so-called “1992 consensus.”

  However, military intimidation of Taiwan has not ceased, with the Ministry of National Defense reporting incursions by 24 Chinese People’s Liberation Army aircraft and four navy vessels between 6am on Saturday and 6am on Sunday.

  Fifteen of the aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entering the nation’s southwest air defense identification zone, it said.

  This stands as proof that Beijing “says one thing and does another,” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said.

  Pure propaganda like the “one family” comment have “no meaning at all,” Chen said, adding that cross-strait relations can only improve if Beijing ceases its military intimidation.

  All of Xi’s actions are strategically coordinated, National Cheng Kung University political science professor Hung Chin-fu (洪敬富) said.

  His address might have appeared to strike a softer tone, but his appointment of Song Tao (宋濤) as director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office indicates the Chinese leader’s handle over the Taiwan issue, Hung said.

  The Chinese Communist Party is facing a “crisis of confidence” following protests over COVID-19 restrictions instigated by an apartment fire in Urumqi and subsequent eased restrictions, he said.

  Xi likely adopted softer language to ease fears held by citizens and foreign investors, seeking to create a guise of calm in the Taiwan Strait, he said.

  After the “two sessions” are held in early March, Xi’s grip on power would be complete and his plan for Taiwan can be “fully activated,” Hung said, adding that this moment is merely temporary appeasement and is not indicative of a greater policy shift.

  Beijing has long employed the strategy of using insincere sentiments such as “one family” to trick Taiwanese into believing that cross-strait animosity is Taipei’s fault, Hung said.

  Xi is gaining confidence, he said, adding that treatment of Taiwan would be subject to his whims.
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