Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration committed several fatal mistakes during Wang’s landmark visit to China, in particular the failure to reject the “one China” framework and China’s unilateral rhetoric of a consensus having been reached, the opposition parties said yesterday.
Wang returned to Taipei yesterday after a four-day trip to the Chinese cities of Nanjing and Shanghai, during which Taiwanese and Chinese government officials held historic, but “unofficial” direct talks for the first time in 65 years.
While the institutionalization of government-to-government talks and the bilateral engagement without preconditions are welcome, Wang made several mistakes that could jeopardize Taiwan’s future and the interests of Taiwanese in the future, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
“It appears that the Ma administration has willingly accepted the ‘one China’ framework as defined by Beijing,” Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), executive director of the DPP’s Policy Research Committee, told a press conference in which the party submitted its “five viewpoints and three questions” to Wang.
Ma and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄) both mentioned the “one China structure” and the so-called “‘1992 consensus’ under the one China principle” last year, Wu said.
Unsurprisingly, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) reiterated the “one China framework” after his meeting with Wang on Tuesday without being challenged by Wang and his ministry, he added.
Another concern was a discrepancy between the two sides’ post-meeting press conference, with Wang saying that a three-point consensus had been reached, while Zhang highlighted a five-point consensus, but the MAC has neither offered any explanation on the discrepancy nor challenged Beijing’s claim.
One of the Chinese-version consensuses hinted that the completion of follow-up agreements under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement would be a prerequisite for Taiwan’s pursuit of accession to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which means China would decide the outcome of Taiwan’s effort in seeking regional economic integration, Wu said.
Former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) raised similar concerns in a press release issued by her office yesterday, saying that Taiwan should have “three insistences” on cross-strait engagement.
Taiwan cannot fall into a “‘one-China’ framework” trap, because Beijing has never eased its oppression of Taiwan’s international space with that ideology, she said, adding that Taiwan also cannot echo Beijing’s interpretation of its sovereignty and should not be too cowardly to voice its own claim to sovereignty.
The cross-strait talks cannot be conducted to serve specific political agendas, nor should they only serve as an arrangement for specific government agencies, she said.
While the Wang-Zhang meeting and the officials’ addressing each other in their official capacities have won praise as historical achievements, Chinese media still refused to refer to Wang using his official title and did not mention the Republic of China at all, Tsai added.
Contrary to the analyses of most observers and international media, “the Taiwanese people’s anxiety over future cross-strait relations appears to have risen after the meeting,” she said.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union said Wang should report to the legislature about his trip, in particular his second, closed-door meeting with Zhang on Thursday night.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS