The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is manipulating the nationalism and emotions of Chinese to bully Taiwanese businesses, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.
The council issued the remarks after Taipei-based Evergreen Group said in a statement on Friday that it supports the so-called “1992 consensus” and opposes Taiwanese independence.
Evergreen, which owns Taiwan’s largest cargo container shipper, Evergreen Marine Corp, and leading international carrier EVA Airways, said that its founder, Chang Yung-fa (張榮發), had devoted his life to facilitating peace across the Taiwan Strait, including through advocating the “small three links” — postal, transportation and trade links between Taiwan and China.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Evergreen Group released the statement after a Chinese content creator said on TikTok on Aug. 13 that he refused to check in at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Paris, where he had a booking, when he noticed that the Chinese flag was not among those displayed in the hotel lobby.
In the video, the man and others were seen asking hotel staff to display a Chinese flag in the Olympic-themed decor, even offering to provide one from their vehicle.
The hotel staff said that the manager’s permission would be required, which was not possible because the manager was not contactable on a weekend.
The hotel reserves the right to decorate its lobby as it chooses, staff said, adding that the Olympics decor was about to be taken down anyway.
The TikToker insisted that a Chinese flag be put up before the decor was removed, but the staff said that it was not possible.
Since the video was shared on TikTok, some Chinese-based travel Web sites have removed the Paris and Shanghai branches of the Evergreen Laurel Hotel from their booking services.
The hotel later apologized for the incident, saying it had offended some of its patrons.
Evergreen Group said in its statement that although Chang passed away in 2016, it has followed in his footsteps by seeking cross-strait stability, emphasizing that only peaceful, stable and harmonious ties would build a sound economy and a good life, and seeking to improve the welfare of people on both sides.
It also apologized for the flag situation and said it would put more effort into staff training to avoid similar incidents.
The MAC said that China’s bullying in the past few years — including telling Chinese streaming services to cut broadcasts of NBA games because players had expressed support for Taiwan, pressuring foreign corporations to remove Taiwan from country lists on their Web sites, and forcing Taiwanese businesses, and its agriculture and fisheries industries, to bow to the “one China” principle — have caused member of the international community to reassess their investments in China and sparked a backlash among Taiwanese.
Taiwanese businesspeople, who contribute significantly to Chinese economic development and growth, and Beijing should protect their investments and rights and improve the investment environment instead of threatening businesspeople with coercion, the MAC said.
Beijing’s irrational actions undermine Taiwan’s efforts to stabilize cross-strait relations, it added.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a separate statement that it condemned “Beijing’s weaponization of the economy to manipulate and influence cross-strait politics.”
The international community should be more aware of China’s cognitive warfare ploys and unite to act against such oppression enacted by its authoritarian government, the statement added.
The “1992 consensus” — a term that former MAC 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,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The Democratic Progressive Party has rejected the formula, saying that acceptance of the “consensus” would imply agreement with China’s claim over Taiwan.
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