Taiwan would never surrender in the face of intensifying pressure from a “more aggressive” Beijing, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday.
Beijing’s “attempts to erase the sovereignty of the Republic of China (Taiwan)” have threatened peace and stability across the region, Chiu said in a speech at a defense forum in Taipei.
Faced with the “unprecedented pressure, our determination to safeguard our sovereignty and democratic system has never been so strong. This is our bottom line,” he added.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“On this point, there is no room for compromise. We will never succumb to the saber rattling and intensifying pressure from China. Taiwan never surrenders,” Chiu said.
Chiu also warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) policy toward Taiwan would “only become more assertive and aggressive” as he hopes to achieve “national unification” with Taiwan.
“This ambition is no doubt the root cause of risks in the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
China maintains a regular military presence around Taiwan, as well as the nearby South China Sea, as Beijing has increasingly pressed its territorial claims.
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said 29 Chinese military aircraft, eight naval vessels and one official ship were detected around Taiwan in a 24-hour window ending at 6am.
Chiu reiterated that Taiwan is willing to talk with Beijing “without any political preconditions on the basis of mutual respect, dignity and equality.”
“We hope the leaders of the other side will display wisdom and flexibility toward a win-win future for both sides of the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
Separately, the council on Wednesday denounced a claim made earlier that day by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office that Beijing only aims to punish “a very small minority of Taiwan independence diehards.”
“From the viewpoint of Beijing authorities, not endorsing ‘unification’ is ‘Taiwan independence,’” the MAC said in a statement.
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) definitions in its regulations were “ambiguous” and “any Taiwanese person could be defined as breaking their law,” the statement said.
The MAC was referring to an official Web site set up last month by Chinese authorities that encouraged people to report “’Taiwan independence’ diehards” so that they can be “punished according to the law.”
“We call upon China to stop repeatedly intimidating and threatening the people of Taiwan, which harms the development of friendly cross-strait interactions,” the MAC said.
The statement came in response to remarks made by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua (陳斌華) at a news conference in Beijing earlier in the day.
“The Taiwan independence diehards with their vile, secessionist words and deeds, rampant independence-seeking activities, crimes of secession and inciting secession, do not target or involve the majority of Taiwan compatriots,” Chen said.
Beijing in June introduced new guidelines that threatened the death penalty for “Taiwanese independence diehards.”
“Beijing authorities have no jurisdiction over Taiwan,” the MAC in response said, adding that China’s “so-called laws and regulations have no binding force on our people.”
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