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
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we