Taiwan would never surrender in the face of intensifying pressure from a “more aggressive” Beijing, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday.
Beijing’s “attempts to erase the sovereignty of the Republic of China (Taiwan)” have threatened peace and stability across the region, Chiu said in a speech at a defense forum in Taipei.
Faced with the “unprecedented pressure, our determination to safeguard our sovereignty and democratic system has never been so strong. This is our bottom line,” he added.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“On this point, there is no room for compromise. We will never succumb to the saber rattling and intensifying pressure from China. Taiwan never surrenders,” Chiu said.
Chiu also warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) policy toward Taiwan would “only become more assertive and aggressive” as he hopes to achieve “national unification” with Taiwan.
“This ambition is no doubt the root cause of risks in the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
China maintains a regular military presence around Taiwan, as well as the nearby South China Sea, as Beijing has increasingly pressed its territorial claims.
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said 29 Chinese military aircraft, eight naval vessels and one official ship were detected around Taiwan in a 24-hour window ending at 6am.
Chiu reiterated that Taiwan is willing to talk with Beijing “without any political preconditions on the basis of mutual respect, dignity and equality.”
“We hope the leaders of the other side will display wisdom and flexibility toward a win-win future for both sides of the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
Separately, the council on Wednesday denounced a claim made earlier that day by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office that Beijing only aims to punish “a very small minority of Taiwan independence diehards.”
“From the viewpoint of Beijing authorities, not endorsing ‘unification’ is ‘Taiwan independence,’” the MAC said in a statement.
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) definitions in its regulations were “ambiguous” and “any Taiwanese person could be defined as breaking their law,” the statement said.
The MAC was referring to an official Web site set up last month by Chinese authorities that encouraged people to report “’Taiwan independence’ diehards” so that they can be “punished according to the law.”
“We call upon China to stop repeatedly intimidating and threatening the people of Taiwan, which harms the development of friendly cross-strait interactions,” the MAC said.
The statement came in response to remarks made by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua (陳斌華) at a news conference in Beijing earlier in the day.
“The Taiwan independence diehards with their vile, secessionist words and deeds, rampant independence-seeking activities, crimes of secession and inciting secession, do not target or involve the majority of Taiwan compatriots,” Chen said.
Beijing in June introduced new guidelines that threatened the death penalty for “Taiwanese independence diehards.”
“Beijing authorities have no jurisdiction over Taiwan,” the MAC in response said, adding that China’s “so-called laws and regulations have no binding force on our people.”
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
RSS