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.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
COUNTERING THE PLA: While the US should reinforce its relations with partners and allies, Taiwan must invest in strengthening its defenses as well, Phillip Davidson said If influence in the Indo-Pacific region is one of the US’ core interests, then Taiwan serves as a cornerstone of US economic and security influence in the region, former US Indo-Pacific Command commander admiral Phillip Davidson said on Thursday. “China’s ... strategy is to supplant the US leadership role in the international order ... and they’ve long said ... that they intend to do that by 2050,” Davidson told the National Review Institute’s Ideas Summit in Washington. Davidson said he had previously told US Senate hearings on China’s military activities and possible threats in the Indo-Pacific region that a Chinese invasion of