Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Frank Wu (吳豊山) yesterday called on China to halt its “united front” work, adding that political interference and military provocations do nothing in Taiwan except draw the nation’s ire.
He made the comments at the seventh SEF board meeting in Taipei.
“United front” is a commonplace phrase in China, but Taiwanese hold it in the same regard as swear words, as it stands for Beijing’s efforts to infiltrate and sow division in their nation, Wu said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The leaders of Taiwan and China both support the peaceful development of cross-strait relations in a rare point of agreement, he said.
China should cherish the historical opportunity of finding common ground with Taiwan and not undermine it at every turn by sending military ships and aircraft to harass the latter, he added.
China can either bring peace and improve the lives of people across the Strait by acting on this agreement or, by acting against it, earn the mockery of history and prove the hollowness of its words, he said.
“For many years, our opposite number insisted that the peoples across the Strait share the same racial origins and language in hopes that Taiwanese would join the symphony of the Chinese family,” he said.
“This song is very much lost amid the ceaseless political infiltration [of Taiwan] and the deafening din of [Chinese] warships and jets,” Wu said. “There is no way Taiwanese would accept this deviation between [China’s] words and actions.”
President William Lai’s (賴清德) call for China to engage in cross-strait dialogue and peaceful exchanges has remained unchanged since his inauguration speech on May 20 last year, he said.
A war in the Taiwan Strait would do tremendous harm to Taiwan and China, but no peaceful alternative is possible unless both sides choose to bear sincere goodwill in all their interactions, he said.
The spirit of goodwill has been notably absent in the contemptuous and bellicose attitude of Chinese officials and government ministries, he said.
China, which vowed to rid itself of its century of humiliation by rising to great power status, should find inspiration and optimism in Taiwan’s achievements, he said.
China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits is reminded that ancient grudges borne by long-dead men should be left with the dead and that its energy is better spent on benefiting the living, he said.
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