Taiwan’s MAC dismisses Xi’s reunification pledge as familiar rhetoric

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said Xi Jinping’s vow to peacefully reunify Taiwan in a speech marking Sun Yat-sen’s 160th birthday offers nothing new. The MAC deputy minister noted the wording is little different from past statements, while a separate cross-strait peace initiative was launched by

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday dismissed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pledge to peacefully “reunify” Taiwan as a reiteration of familiar rhetoric. Speaking at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to mark the 160th birthday of Sun Yat-sen, Xi described resolving the Taiwan question as an “unwavering historical mission” of the Chinese Communist Party, without mentioning the use of force, and reiterated China’s adherence to “peaceful reunification and the policy of ‘one country, two systems.’”

“As for the wording on Taiwan unification, it is not much different from the past,” MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh said. Sun Yat-sen, a leader of the 1911 revolt that ended Qing rule and founded the Republic of China (ROC), was born on 12 Nov 1866. Beijing hails him as a patriot and forerunner of the communist revolution, while in Taiwan he is regarded as the “father of the nation.”

An official familiar with international affairs said Beijing’s actions run counter to Sun’s efforts to topple imperial rule and promote democracy and freedom. Beijing’s government, with no limit on its leader’s time in power, resembles the imperial rule of the Qing Dynasty’s final days, the official added, noting that Sun vacated what was then the most coveted political office. What Sun left behind was not a slogan but a generation willing to form parties, run newspapers and criticise those in power, the official said, adding that such acts could be considered criminal in China.

Meanwhile, former Kuomintang legislator and Cross-Strait Development and Research Foundation chairman Ting Shou-chung and former Examination Yuan president John Kuan co-hosted a rally to commemorate Sun’s birthday and promote cross-strait peace. They presented a “cross-strait peace initiative” cosigned by more than 200 pan-blue academics, which opposes war and urges both sides of the Taiwan Strait to negotiate a political arrangement based on equality and mutual respect.

Ting read out the initiative’s four main points: put peace and people’s welfare first and end mutual attacks and stigmatisation; resume dialogue and expand civil exchanges; deepen cooperation on functional matters, including industry; and face history and reality to lay the groundwork for a final political settlement. Kuan said Europe and the US are growing weaker and more divided while the “East is on the rise,” adding that as the greatest US national interest is to avoid war with China, Taiwan’s influence is waning. “The greatest sin of Taiwan’s government is not letting the people of Taiwan know the harm of war,” he said, adding that “only peace can protect Taiwan.”