Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday called for the mobilization of “patriots” in Taiwan and abroad to fend off pro-Taiwanese independence efforts in a meeting tied to China’s highest profile annual political gathering.
Xi met with the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (中國國民黨革命委員會), a political group that is based in China and distinct from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Xi urged the group, an ally of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), to unite “all patriots from home and abroad, in and out of Taiwan” to step up opposition to Taiwanese independence and to advance the “peaceful reunification” of China.
Photo: AFP
The phrase “peaceful reunification,” widely seen as a benign sign of China’s policy approach toward Taiwan, was missing from this year’s government work report earlier this week.
The report did pledge to implement the CCP’s Taiwan strategy, signaling that Xi’s words are a more authoritative guide to China’s attitude toward the nation.
Xi during the meeting called for deeper cooperation with Taiwan in technology, agriculture, culture and youth development, China’s state news agency Xinhua said in a readout on his meeting.
It was held on the sidelines of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a component of the so-called “two sessions” annual gathering of China’s government.
The CCP typically utilizes a dual narrative when dealing with Taiwan, National Policy Foundation associate researcher Lee Cheng-hsiu (李正修) told Radio Free Asia.
Beijing would emphasize “reunification” or “opposing independence” depending on the situation, Lee said.
“Due to the current lack of mutual trust in cross-strait relations, the DPP’s third consecutive presidential term is about to begin. So in this situation, the CPP will emphasize ‘opposing independence’ in its Taiwan policy for at least the next four years,” he said.
The harder line on Taiwan taken up by Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday does not conflict with Xi’s softer comments during the Wednesday meeting, because Xi leaves the tougher rhetoric to his underlings, enabling Beijing to maintain a two-pronged approach, Lee added.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
RSS