Taiwan’s future cannot be contingent on the goodwill of Beijing, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in an interview published yesterday by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times), while adding that the government would seek dialogue over confrontation.
The People’s Republic of China has since its founding refused to accept the fact that the Republic of China exists, and has resorted to various forms of threats to coerce Taiwan into accepting its “one China” principle, he said.
Taiwanese find China’s political preconditions for dialogue unacceptable, he said.
Photo: Huang Chun-hsuan, Taipei Times
“We do not accept narrow-minded and rigid ideological frameworks,” Chiu added.
Beijing’s military and economic threats, diplomatic oppression and other actions, including infiltration of Taiwanese society and the use of cognitive warfare, have caused the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to drift further away from each other, he said.
Such actions go against Chinese leaders’ comments that Taiwan and China should be spiritually intertwined, he added.
Chinese oppression of Taiwan is why it has become the target of an international “containment” policy, Chiu said, calling on Beijing to consider measures to facilitate a cross-strait thaw.
The nation’s future should not be contingent upon the “goodwill” of Chinese leaders, he said, adding that President William Lai’s (賴清德) four “pillars” of peace are key to realizing that goal.
In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in July last year, Lai defined the four pillars as building up the nation’s defense capabilities, promoting economic security and fostering supply chain resilience, forming partnerships with other democracies and maintaining steady and principled cross-strait leadership.
Commenting on Beijing’s recent guidelines allowing its courts to impose severe punishments on “die-hard Taiwanese independence advocates,” Chiu said they have a negative effect and undermine cross -strait relations.
They are a classic demonstration of “legal warfare,” he said, urging Taiwanese to reconsider non-essential visits to China, Macau or Hong Kong.
The guidelines are full of “uncivilized” practices, including long-arm jurisdiction, trials in absentia, confiscation of property and even extend to a target’s family, he added.
Chiu also called on Beijing to release the cerw of the fishing boat Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88), which was detained by the China Coast Guard on Tuesday last week, as well as provide medicine for crew members who need them.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their