{"id":211225,"date":"2019-01-04T21:26:18","date_gmt":"2019-01-05T05:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=211225"},"modified":"2022-05-31T14:48:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T21:48:44","slug":"tsai-calls-on-china-to-face-reality-over-taiwan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2019\/01\/tsai-calls-on-china-to-face-reality-over-taiwan\/","title":{"rendered":"Tsai Calls on China to “Face Reality” Over Taiwan"},"content":{"rendered":"
In a major address marking the 40th anniversary of the CCP\u2019s first Taiwan policy statement, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that China will strive for peaceful \u201creunification\u201d with Taiwan under the \u201cone country, two systems\u201d model<\/strong><\/a>, the same model currently governing Hong Kong, but warned that it reserves the right to use force to bring the self-ruled island under control if necessary.\u00a0Chris Buckley<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Chris Horton at The New York Times report:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe country is growing strong, the nation is rejuvenating and unification between the two sides of the strait is the great trend of history,\u201d Mr. Xi told officials, military officers and guests in the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.<\/p>\n China would respect the Taiwanese people\u2019s religious and legal freedoms in a unified \u201cone country, two systems\u201d framework, Mr. Xi said. But he warned that the profound political differences between Taiwan, a vibrant democracy, and China, a highly authoritarian government, were no excuse to reject unification.<\/p>\n \u201cDifferent systems are not an obstacle to unification, and even less are they an excuse for separatism,\u201d Mr. Xi said. \u201cThe private property, religious beliefs and legitimate rights and interests of Taiwanese compatriots will be fully assured.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Xi also accompanied his offer of talks with a warning \u2014 one implicitly also aimed at the United States, which provides Taiwan with military equipment and the possibility of support in a crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cWe make no promise to abandon the use of force, and retain the option of taking all necessary measures,\u201d Mr. Xi said in a section of the speech that drew rousing applause. Those options, he said, could be used against \u201cintervention by external forces.\u201d [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Cross-strait relations have been strained since the 2016 election of Tsai Ing-wen\u00a0from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. China\u00a0suspended all diplomatic communications with Taiwan<\/a>\u00a0in June 2016 after President\u00a0Tsai refused to fully recognize\u00a0the \u201cone China\u201d principle. Beijing has subsequently ramped up pressure to isolate Taiwan diplomatically. After El Salvador severed ties with Taiwan last August<\/a>, the island nation now has formal relations with only seventeen countries, most from Central America and the Pacific.<\/p>\n President Tsai rejected Xi’s proposal and said in response that Taiwan\u2019s people would never give up their democratic freedoms<\/strong><\/a>. Although Xi’s New Year speech comes on the heels of a major electoral setback for Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party<\/a>, Tsai warned against interpreting this as a rejection of self-rule.\u00a0From Gavin Fernando and AFP:<\/p>\n \u201cDemocratic values are cherished by the Taiwanese people; it\u2019s their way of life,\u201d Ms Tsai told reporters in a press conference arranged in response to Mr Xi\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n She also accused Beijing of provocations that strained people\u2019s \u201cemotional connection\u201d to the mainland such as \u201cbuying off\u201d Taiwan\u2019s few diplomatic allies and increased military drills near the island.<\/p>\n Taiwan\u2019s foreign ministry released a terser response.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the Chinese Government cannot treat its own people kindly, cannot guarantee human rights and will not let its own people vote \u2026 then Taiwanese will look at China\u2019s intent with suspicion,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n Though Mr Xi\u2019s speech takes a strong stance against Taiwanese separatists and pushes for reunification, it is aimed mostly at domestic audiences, analysts say.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s rather empty and doesn\u2019t have any new points except that cross-strait unification would not affect the interests of other countries,\u201d said Fan Shih-ping, political analyst at National Taiwan Normal University, adding that Mr Xi\u2019s words may also be intended for the US. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As president of the Republic of China, I must stress that we\u2019ve never accepted the \u201c1992 Consensus,\u201d & the \u201cfour musts\u201d are crucial for positive cross-strait developments. I call on #China<\/a> to bravely take steps towards democracy, so they can truly understand the people of #Taiwan<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Wvgiy44Oc8<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 \u8521\u82f1\u6587 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) January 2, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Taiwan President Tsai’s New Year address: https:\/\/t.co\/V3zmIKIjGx<\/a>. Four musts. China must 1) face the reality of the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan); 2) it must respect the commitment of the 23 million people of Taiwan to freedom and democracy;<\/p>\n \u2014 Bonnie Glaser \/ \u845b\u6765\u4eea (@BonnieGlaser) January 1, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n “We are willing to sit down and talk but as a democratic nation, all political negotiations relating to cross-strait relations must be undertaken with the authorization and supervision of the people of Taiwan and must proceed under the government-to-government model.”<\/p>\n \u2014 Samson Ellis (@samsonellis) January 2, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n China’s \u201cone country, two systems\u201d offer is unlikely to find widespread support in Taiwan. Instead, Xi’s promise of autonomy and an independent system of governance under that model is expected to be met with distrust by Taiwanese who have closely watched increasing attacks on Hong Kong’s freedoms<\/strong><\/a>. The New York Times’\u00a0Chris Buckley<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Chris Horton report in a separate article:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n […N]either the threat nor the promised reward seemed likely to sharply weaken Taiwanese opposition to China\u2019s demands, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a professor of political science at the Hong Kong Baptist University who studies relations between China and Taiwan.<\/p>\n \u201cXi Jinping\u2019s approach is to use a bigger stick and to make the carrot sweeter,\u201d he said in a telephone interview. But having seen Hong Kong\u2019s autonomy and freedoms squeezed by Beijing in recent years, many Taiwanese people were likely to be suspicious of Mr. Xi\u2019s offers, he said.<\/p>\n […] Virtually no section of the electorate in Taiwan would find \u201cone country, two systems\u201d an attractive goal, said Jonathan Sullivan, an associate professor at the University of Nottingham in Britain who studies the island\u2019s politics. \u201cTaiwan is not a colony \u00e0 la Hong Kong, and it has everything to lose and nothing to gain from agreeing to it,\u201d Professor Sullivan said.<\/p>\n Even so, Mr. Xi had political motives to show that he was working to absorb Taiwan, Professor Sullivan said. \u201cHaving unification as a national aspiration is incredibly useful for the Chinese Communist Party, which stakes its legitimacy on economic growth and nationalism,\u201d he said. \u201cThe former is becoming more difficult to deliver, and so the latter becomes more important.\u201d [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Incredulous that Xi still trying to flog \u4e00\u570b\u5169\u5236, which has long been dead as a dodo in Taiwan<\/p>\n \u2014 Jonathan Sullivan (@jonlsullivan) January 2, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Multiple references to One Country, Two Systems in intro to Xi Jinping’s speech on Taiwan today. Can’t imagine too many people in Taiwan are looking at Hong Kong with envy.<\/p>\n \u2014 ????? ????????? ????????? (@jgriffiths) January 2, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Brings to mind a photo I took in Hong Kong during the Umbrella movement that includes a banner reading (in English) “Taiwan Beware!” and (in characters) “Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow Taiwan” (It appears in “Hong Kong Visions,” a 2014 @LAReviewofBooks<\/a> essay https:\/\/t.co\/ogNgHYIm29<\/a> ) https:\/\/t.co\/zVqBh0dZip<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jeff Wasserstrom (@jwassers) January 2, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n At The Diplomat,\u00a0former Dutch diplomat Gerrit van der Wees looks at three fundamental ways in which\u00a0Xi Jinping has misread the Taiwan situation<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n First, the people of Taiwan have worked long and hard to achieve a democratic political system on their island. They value their own Taiwanese identity, sovereignty, and democracy. They don\u2019t want to give that up in order to become part of a repressive and authoritarian China.<\/p>\n [\u2026 A]lmost no one in Taiwan is waiting for any integration with China, or willing to give up Taiwan\u2019s freedom, democracy, and sovereignty. People simply want to live in peace with\u00a0their giant neighbor, and at the same time gain more international space as a member of the international family of nations.<\/p>\n Second, Xi\u2019s promises of \u201cone country, two systems\u201d are rejected by an overwhelming majority of people in Taiwan. The Taiwanese can see what is happening with freedoms in Hong Kong, and the nominally autonomous regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, which were given similar promises. Continuing to hold this up as a model for Taiwan increasingly lacks credibility, if it ever had any credibility to the Taiwanese.<\/p>\n And third, peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is not an \u201cinternal affair of China\u201d: it is a core interest of the United States, which values Taiwan as a vibrant democracy, and as a responsible stakeholder in the international community. Again, according to the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, the United States insists that Taiwan\u2019s future be determined peacefully with the consent of the people in Taiwan, and rightly so. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Meanwhile in Hong Kong, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets on Tuesday to protest the Chinese government’s clampdown on the city’s freedoms<\/strong><\/a>. From Reuters:<\/p>\n The New Year’s day march included calls to restart stalled democratic reforms and to fight “political repression” from Beijing.<\/p>\n “Looking back at the year that passed, it was a very bad year … The rule of law in Hong Kong is falling backwards,” said Jimmy Sham, one of the organizers.<\/p>\n Organizers said the march drew 5,500 people, revised down from an earlier estimate of 5,800, while police said 3,200 people were on the streets at the march’s peak.<\/p>\n […] Some protesters also carried “wanted” posters of Hong Kong’s top legal official, Theresa Cheng, criticizing a decision to drop a corruption investigation into Hong Kong’s former pro-Beijing leader Leung Chun-ying, without a satisfactory explanation.<\/p>\n “I’m afraid the pressure will continue,” said Joseph Cheng, a veteran rights campaigner and retired professor who was raising money for a “justice” fund for activists facing hefty legal fees for several trials.<\/p>\n “We’re going to face a few difficult years, but we must stand firm … Unlike in mainland China, at least we can still protest.” [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n At Inkstone,\u00a0Sum Lok-kei looks at four potential flashpoints for Hong Kong in the year ahead<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n 1. National anthem law […] Pro-democracy politicians have voiced concern that the law could restrict freedom of speech in Hong Kong, but it remains unclear if they will protest during legislative meetings to delay the passage of the bill.<\/p>\n […] 2. Mega bridge […] 3. Massive islands project The islands are expected to house more than a million people and could take decades to finish. The proposal has been criticized for its potentially high cost and environmental impact. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a major address marking the 40th anniversary of the CCP\u2019s first Taiwan policy statement, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that China will strive for peaceful \u201creunification\u201d with Taiwan under the \u201cone country, two systems\u201d model, the same model currently governing Hong Kong, but warned that it reserves the right to use force to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1088,"featured_media":211226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[35,14744,14745,14746,100,112,1051],"tags":[17004,15602,17005,7697,14669,2489,4674],"class_list":["post-211225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hong-kong","category-level-2-article","category-level-3-article","category-level-4-article","category-politics","category-taiwan","category-top-article","tag-hong-kong","tag-hong-kong-protests","tag-taiwan","tag-taiwan-relations","tag-tsai-ing-wen","tag-unification","tag-xi-jinping","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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\nThe controversial National Anthem Bill is set to be presented to lawmakers by the Hong Kong government early this year.<\/p>\n
\nThe opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in late October reignited friction between Hong Kong residents and mainland Chinese tourists.<\/p>\n
\nLast year, Hong Kong\u2019s top leader introduced an expensive and hotly debated plan to spend up to $64 billion to create an artificial chain of islands to ease the city\u2019s chronic housing shortage.<\/p>\n