Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday.
A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source as saying.
Wang is thought to be the principal force behind the CCP’s messaging campaigns. He has been credited with developing former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin’s (江澤民) guiding sociopolitical programs while he was CCP general secretary, and is said to have crafted former Chinese president Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) scientific development policies before designing and executing many of Xi’s social ideals.
Photo: AP
The “one country, two systems” formula that granted a degree of autonomy to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was first developed by the former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), and it was believed to be the CCP’s intention to use Hong Kong’s framework as a template for a peaceful unification with Taiwan.
The CCP’s leaders are aware that China’s increasingly tough stance with Hong Kong has become a powerful argument for Taiwanese to demonstrate that the system would be unworkable in Taiwan, the report said.
However, Xi feels at liberty to break from Deng’s policy to develop his own peaceful unification framework, it said.
The report quoted a source familiar with CCP internal affairs as saying that an armed invasion of Taiwan is not being considered by Beijing, and is focused on plans to unify Taiwan diplomatically.
Success of the new concept would be gauged before Beijing considered military options, the source said.
Cross-strait tensions that have been heightened since August last year make it difficult to determine when Beijing might finish developing its new framework, the source added.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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