Opposition to China’s “one country, two systems” framework is “the most important Taiwan consensus,” President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Tsai made the remarks at a meeting with Nauruan President Baron Divavesi Waqa at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.
Taiwanese oppose the “one country, two systems” framework, a stance also shared by the ruling and opposition parties, Tsai said.
Photo: CNA
“Rejection of the ‘one country, two systems’ framework is the most important ‘Taiwan consensus’ of this year,” she said.
Taiwan also believes that sitting down for a discussion is the best way to solve a problem, Tsai said, adding that talks with China should occur with no political preconditions.
Taiwan would work with international partners with similar ideologies and contribute to the world based on this belief, she added.
Separately, Dr She for Democracy, a group of more than 800 pro-democracy female doctors, bought half-page ads on the front pages of yesterday’s editions of the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) and Apple Daily in support of Tsai.
The ad, which featured a pink background, read: “Defend Taiwan’s democracy. We support President Tsai Ing-wen.”
It was signed “810 female doctors from all over Taiwan” and listed their names.
The group said on Facebook that it strongly believes that Taiwan’s democratic values and sovereignty are worthy of the attention and protection of everyone who lives in the nation.
It said that the greatest wish of its members as doctors, mothers, daughters, sisters and wives is for their elders to live peacefully and for their children to grow up happily.
However, recent upheaval and the spread of fake news have aroused their concern, it said, adding that they feel threatened by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) remarks and Beijing’s alleged efforts to conceal information about African swine fever.
The group was referring to Xi on Wednesday last week saying in a speech that China is willing to talk with any party in Taiwan to push forward the political process as long as it accepts the “one China” principle.
China “will not renounce the use of force or give up the option to use all necessary measures” to serve that end and crack down on Taiwanese independence, he said.
As democracy is a worldwide trend and universal value, the group said that it was willing to join the international community in defending the values and dignity of democracy, adding that Tsai has expressed their views clearly with her insistence on Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Netizens praised and thanked the group for its comments.
One netizen called the group’s statement a display of the “Taiwanese spirit,” while another said that they were almost moved to tears.
In related news, the edition of the Ministry of National Defense Political Warfare Bureau’s weekly publication Our Voice released on Monday said that Xi’s speech was filled with contradictions and contained traces of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “united front” tactics.
The political goal hidden behind the concepts of “one country, two systems,” “peaceful unification” and “integrated development” is to carry out unification according to the CCP’s wishes, it added.
Military personnel should recognize that adopting a “one country, two systems” framework would mean destroying the Republic of China, and defend the freedom, democracy and sovereignty of the nation’s 23 million people, it said.
Additional reporting by Aaron Tu
‘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
RSS