Taiwan is committed to maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait and safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, and free and democratic way of life, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said today in response to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) remarks earlier this week.
Xi on Tuesday urged China to firmly oppose "Taiwanese independence separatist activities" and external interference, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Xi made the remarks at a reception in Beijing celebrating the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
Xi’s comments on Taiwan this year only accounted for 44 words of his speech, down from 197 last year, the fewest in the past five years, Chiu said, adding that Xi usually devoted about 100 words to Taiwan in the annual speeches.
The reduction could be a part of a Chinese strategy or an implication that the issue is not among its top priorities, he said.
The council is evaluating and observing the situation ahead of upcoming negotiations between the US and China, he said.
Despite briefly mentioning deepening cross-strait cooperation, Xi touched on “two determinations,” which were to oppose "Taiwanese independence separatist activities" and external interference, and defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Chiu said.
Beijing’s policy on Taiwan is to continue to combine the “two determinations” with the promotion of unification and integration, he said.
He urged the Chinese government to abandon its “rigid mindset” to foster better cross-strait communication.
He also said that China should face reality and engage in a healthy and orderly dialogue based on the principles of equality and respect.
Addressing the trend of Taiwanese entertainers posting celebratory messages on China’s National Day, Chiu said the entertainers should cherish Taiwan’s free and democratic way of life and avoid becoming tools for China’s “united front” activities.
Several Taiwanese entertainers yesterday posted messages such as “happy birthday, new China” and “long live the motherland.”
A free and democratic way of life respects everyone’s cultural and national identity, Chiu said.
While their actions are regrettable, MAC would not seek to punish them for their words, as they are entitled to freedom of speech, he said.
It is a social consensus that Taiwan safeguards the nation’s sovereignty, freedom, democracy and core interests, he said.
There are two red lines that should not be crossed: belittling Taiwan and the sovereignty of the Republic of China, and promoting or celebrating China’s military exercises that aim to invade Taiwan by force, he said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS