Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) recent reiteration of Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for unification with Taiwan was a “pre-emptive warning” to forces seeking Taiwanese independence, former National Security Council secretary-general Su Chi (蘇起) said yesterday.
When Taiwan moves aggressively toward what China sees as attempts to become independent, China would tighten its position on unification, Su said.
Su made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the implication of Xi’s comment when he met with pro-unification groups from Taiwan in Beijing on Sept. 26.
Photo: CNA
There has been increasing concern in Beijing that the independence movement in Taiwan is gathering strength, forcing China to resort to measures that would serve as a “pre-emptive warning” to counter the situation, Su said, before he gave a speech to members of the pro-independence think tank Taiwan Brain Trust at a closed-door meeting yesterday.
That Xi revived the idea of “one country, two systems” — the first time he has done so since he became president in November 2012 — has sparked a lot of discussion because his predecessor, Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), had been careful to avoid associating the policy with Taiwan when he was in power.
Although Xi has repeatedly stated that the issue of unification with Taiwan “cannot be passed on from generation to generation,” Su said he did not think that Xi was eager to push for its realization.
Xi is hoping to prevent changes in the current status of relations between Taiwan and China, as the two sides are still trying to understand each other before unification can be achieved, added Su, who is also the chairman of Taiwan Forum.
Cross-strait relations remain “stable” despite protests by the student-led Sunflower movement earlier this year, which has stalled legislative review of the cross-strait service trade agreement, he said.
However, they “are not as good as they used to be,” he added.
Although the relationship appears to have “lost momentum” because of a “little hiccup” that has “lowered the level of mutual trust,” there is still a chance that it would recover before the 2016 presidential election, Su said.
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