President William Lai’s (賴清德) statement that the Republic of China (ROC) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are not subordinate to each other is in line with the Constitution, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said on Monday.
Liang cited the preface to the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文), which state that the additional articles were enacted “to meet the requisites of the nation prior to national unification,” meaning that as the situation stands, neither side has jurisdiction over the other.
“Two phrases used to describe the relationship — ‘two sides of the [Taiwan] Strait’ and ‘the ROC and the PRC’ — mean the same thing,” Liang said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
It would not matter if the president were to follow a “one China” constitution, as Beijing would criticize him regardless, as the ROC in Beijing’s eyes is an “illegitimate government” that does not exist, or should not exist, Liang said, adding that China’s stance is that adhering to the Constitution is an act of declaring “zhonghua independence,” which to it is the same as Taiwanese independence.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) also insisted on the ROC’s sovereignty and commented that the nation’s fate should be decided by its citizens, Liang said.
Beijing would disagree with that stance, as it would “consider it to be pro-independence,” he said.
The MAC was created according to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and Lai’s comments adhere to the act and the Constitution, he said.
Other legislation also treats China as an independent country, Liang added, citing as examples the National Health Insurance only applying to citizens of Taiwan and the inability of Shanghai residents to perform their military service in Taiwan.
While the Constitution theoretically encompasses both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the two sides are actually two separate countries, he said.
Regarding other matters, Liang said that a claim by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office that China’s National Security Act does not affect the majority of Taiwanese was shown to be a blatant lie by reports of a Taiwanese businessperson falling afoul of that legislation.
When Mao Zedong (毛澤東) initiated his purge of right-wing dissidents, he claimed only 4,000 were affected, but about 550,000 dissidents were sent to labor reform camps, Liang said.
Separately yesterday, KMT Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) told a plenary session at the legislature that businesspeople in the US and Europe are worried that Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) would push policies favoring Taiwanese independence.
Cho said the ROC is a sovereign, independent nation and the government’s chief task is to maintain the “status quo,” and foster peaceful development in the Indo-Pacific region and cross-strait affairs.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-yu
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