Taiwan-based bakery cafe 85°C (85度C) yesterday declared its support of the so-called “1992 consensus” and the peaceful development of cross-strait ties after Chinese netizens threatened to boycott the chain after one of its branches in the US allegedly welcomed President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) with a customized gift package.
The company’s statement on its Chinese-language Web site came one day after China’s state-owned Global Times, in an online article, denounced a Los Angeles 85°C outlet for giving Tsai a gift bag when she stopped by for coffee on Sunday, calling it “infuriating.”
Tsai made a transit stop in Los Angeles en route to Paraguay and Belize, a move that has drawn ire from Chinese authorities.
Photo courtesy of Tsai Shih-ying
She is to transit through Houston, Texas, on her return trip.
“It appears that 85°C is supportive of Tsai’s policies; at least it does not oppose them... If the company is trying to rake in Chinese money on one hand while supporting Taiwanese independence on the other, such behaviors will not be accepted and should be despised,” the article quoted Chinese American Federation honorary chairman Lu Qiang (鹿強) as saying.
Bakery cafe 85°C was established in 2003 by Wu Cheng-hsueh (吳政學), a native of Yunlin County. It later expanded to China, the US and Australia, and has more than 1,000 branches worldwide.
“Our company’s firm support for the 1992 consensus has never changed,” 85°C said in its statement.
“We oppose any conduct or rhetoric that could drive people on either side of the Taiwan Strait apart. We will continue to provide high-quality products and service to customers on both sides based on the belief that the two sides of the Strait are one family,” the company said.
Dismissing the Global Times’ allegation that Tsai received a customized gift package, the bakery chain said it was just a pillow that a staff member asked Tsai to sign for their personal collection.
“It was not a customized gift package we prepared in advance, as the media alleged,” the company said.
The company also said it was grateful to Beijing for its measures for Taiwanese, which it said have allowed it to expand in China in a smooth and orderly manner.
Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said the government denounces any actions that could disturb market order and suppress freedom of speech.
“Forcing one’s own ideologies on an international corporation is not something that should occur in a civil society,” Huang said.
The Mainland Affairs Council said it is natural and normal for the president to visit Taiwanese businesses overseas.
“[Beijing’s] pressuring of Taiwanese businesses into making political statements is a base move that will not be accepted by Taiwanese,” the council said, adding that China’s actions are not conducive to creating positive cross-strait interactions, nor would it attract Taiwanese investment in China.
The ‘1992 consensus’ refers to a tacit understanding between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Additional reporting by Su Yung-yao
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats