Chinese Ambassador to Washington Cui Tiankai (崔天凱) on Tuesday characterized Taiwanese officials as having a “lackey mentality” after a Taiwanese delegation met with US politicians.
Led by former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃), the delegation visited the US to attend US President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in Washington on Friday last week.
Cui said on the sidelines of a Lunar New Year reception at the Chinese embassy that “there have been some opportunistic politicians from Taiwan making some petty moves” while the US is undergoing an administration change.
Photo: CNA
“Some people think that they have met somebody after coming to the US and felt self-complacent about it; I consider it a kind of lackey mentality,” Cui said.
When asked about the possibility of Trump revisiting the “one China” policy and Taiwan’s concern about becoming a bargaining chip in China-US deals, Cui said that if Taipei wants to avoid becoming a bargaining chip, “just return to the foundation of the [so-called] ‘1992 consensus’ and recognize that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to ‘one China’ and the people on both sides are Chinese.”
“Once this great principle of the nation is understood, [Taiwan] has nothing to worry about, as it would be standing with the 1.3 billion Chinese,” he said.
“However, if you have to separate yourself from or pit yourself against the 1.3 billion Chinese, then there is more for you to worry about” other than becoming a bargaining chip, Cui said.
He said that the “one China” policy is the political foundation for China-US relations.
“We firmly uphold the ‘one China’ principle; it is unshakable and nonnegotiable,” he said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said in Taipei yesterday that interactions between Taiwanese and US officials are precisely the “product of Chinese oppression.”
Cui’s words “were merely sour grapes, because a meeting of any kind between our people and US officials is a breakthrough,” Lo said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus convener Sufin Siluko (廖國棟) said “it is up to us to decide whether [we are being] lackeys; it is none of [China’s] business and it should focus on taking care of its own business.”
New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐), a member of the delegation, said China should not be taken aback by other nations engaging in exchanges, “which is perfectly normal.”
Regarding South China Sea issues, Cui said that there are territorial and maritime disputes between China and some ASEAN members, but it is not an issue of geopolitical strategy or competition, nor is it a problem between China and the US, as the latter has no territorial claims in the region.
Things are improving between China and ASEAN members that China has disputes with, he said, adding that “against this backdrop, any country from outside the region should promote regional cooperation to return peace and stability back to the South China Sea, rather than doing the opposite.”
He reiterated that China cares about navigational safety and freedom in the region more than anyone else, as the South China Sea is “right on China’s footstep” and it relies on passage through it for trade.
He said as the China-US trade relationship is based on achieving mutual interests and a win-win situation, China is firmly opposed to a trade war with Washington, because both sides would suffer as a result.
The US should develop a strong and stable economic and trade relationship with China if it wants to make gains in this big market, Cui said.
Additional reporting by Alison Hsiao
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and