Taiwan-China Relations

Taipei, Beijing negotiate ‘one China’ principle

DIFFERENCE OF OPINION:The MAC minister said whether the ‘one China’ principle is to be a point of consensus at the meeting would be made known today

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 07, 2015
By: Tzou Jiing-wen and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Chinese government strongly desires that the “one China” principle be made one of

President Ma Ying-jeou delivers a speech on the anniversary of the death of late president Yen Chia-kan in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Taipei Times

the points of “consensus” to be announced after a historic meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore today.

However, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) officials said that they would prefer the meeting to be based on the so-called “1992 consensus.”

As of press time last night, the two sides were still negotiating the issue.

The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means. [FULL STORY]

‘Liquor of peace’ from former battlefield served at Ma-Xi dinner

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/07
By: Huang Hui-min, Hsieh Chia-chen and Christie Chen

Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) Two bottles of liquor from the former battlefield of Kinmen that were

(Photo courtesy of Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc.)

served at a dinner following the historic meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) symbolize the development of cross-strait ties from confrontation to peace, a Taiwanese official said Saturday.

The two bottles of Kinmen kaoliang liquor were produced in 1990 — the year that Taiwan and China signed the groundbreaking Kinmen Agreement, which laid out measures to systematically tackle problems such as repatriation of hijackers, criminals and illegal immigrants across the Taiwan Strait.

The liquor was owned by Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), secretary-general of the National Security Council, who was a senior military officer on the outlying island of Kinmen when the agreement was signed there.

Kao purchased the liquor at the time to commemorate the signing of the agreement, the first of its kind between Taiwan and China since the Republic of China government moved to Taiwan in 1949, Presidential Office spokesman Chen Yi-hsin (陳以信) said on a flight to Singapore earlier in the day. [FULL STORY]

Taiwanese activists deported from Singapore under “special rules”

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-07
By: Jocylin FC, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Three social activists from Taiwan were deported by Singapore authorises after being held

In the photo, activists gathered at Ketagalan Boulevard Saturday evening. (the photo was contributed by Susan)

for interrogation by immigration officers under reason of “special rules”.

Three social activists from Democracy Tautin, Dreamdom and Taiwan Restoration of Social Justice, were the main organizers of the rally in Taipei today. They went to Singapore in order to present a petition to TECO and to protest the Ma-Xi meeting. They self-financed the trip and took on personal risk in order to submit an official document that declared President Ma Ying-jeou does not possess the legitimacy to represent the Taiwanese population.

“The officers told the activists that a day’s stay in Singapore is strange as a reason for their interrogation and proceeded with taking their thumbprints. At 10.38am, the immigration officers informed the three that they are not allowed to enter Singapore but declined to give details of why they are denied entry. According to the activists, the officers just replied saying, “Today’s special rule is as such”,” reported the Online Citizen.

Singapore’s draconian laws forbid all political protest thus the deportation does not come as a surprise. [FULL STORY]

Important meetings between Taiwan and China: an overview

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/07
By: Kuo Chung-han and Lee Mei-yu

Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) The historic meeting between Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英

The 1993 meeting between Chairman of Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation Koo Chen-fu (right) and the President of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Wang Daohan (left).

九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is the first direct contact between the top leaders from both sides since Taiwan and China split at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

But it is not the first time that the two former political rivals have discussed bilateral ties. What follows is a brief overview of the important meetings between the Republic of China government and the Communist Party of China (CPC), from 1993 to the present:

In 1993, Chairman of Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Koo Chen-fu (辜振甫) and the President of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Wang Daohan (汪道涵) met in Singapore April 27-29, which was the first meeting between Taipei and Beijing since 1949.

In October of 1998, Koo and Wang met again in Shanghai and agreed to strengthen dialogue and continue negotiations. The second Koo-Wang meeting lasted for four days. [FULL STORY]

Xi slams Taiwan Independence: Zhang

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-07
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his radical opposition to

Xi slams Taiwan Independence: Zhang. Associated Press

Taiwan Independence during his historic meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou, according to comments by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office chief Zhang Zhijun at a news conference after the event.

The closed-door meeting between two delegations at Singapore’s Shangri-La Hotel took about one hour.

According to Zhang, Xi expressed his radical opposition to Taiwan Independence during the summit, while he also called on all Taiwanese political parties to stand by the “1992 Consensus,” which the opposition Democratic Progressive Party rejects.

In addition, Xi also mentioned well-known views about the continuation of cross-straits cooperation, but also mentioned that Mainland China and Taiwan both belonged to the same China and were not separate nations, a view diametrically opposed to those held by the DPP, which is likely to return to power after elections next January. [FULL STORY]

Protesters, police injured in overnight demonstrations

BURN, BABY, BURN:TSU Department of Youth Affairs director Chang Chao-lin was arrested over the burning of a funeral-style portrait of the president at a rally in Taipei

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 08, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter

A series of protests at several locations in Taipei against the meeting between President

Protesters in Taipei shout slogans and hold up banners at a demonstration against a meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore yesterday. Photo: EPA

Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) began on Friday night and continued yesterday morning until Ma departed for Singapore at 5:30am.

At about 11pm on Friday night, dozens of people holding up banners advocating Taiwanese independence arrived in front of the Presidential Office Building, accusing Ma of being a “9 percent president” trying to “sell off Taiwan.”

“No to the opaque Ma-Xi meeting, no to concessions on Taiwan’s sovereignty,” the protesters chanted until police officers moved in to remove them, at which the chanting turned into angry yelling and shouting.

Presidential spokesman hits back at DPP criticism of Ma-Xi meeting

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/06
By: Claudia Liu, Tai Ya-chen, Chiu Kuo-chiang and Elaine Hou

Taipei, Nov. 6 (CNA) A presidential spokesman on Friday rejected the opposition party’s allegations that the upcoming meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping (習近平) will “hurt Taiwan’s democracy,” saying it is subject to legislative and public supervision.

Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) said he did not see the grounds for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)’s claims that the meeting in Singapore came about through a non-transparent “black box” decision-making process.

The process has been and will be subject to legislative supervision, he said, noting that Hsia Li-yan (夏立言), the head of Taiwan’s agency responsible for China policy, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), had reported on the Ma-Xi meeting to the Legislature and would do so again after the meeting. [FULL STORY]

Tsai not ruling out PRC visit, under right conditions

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 06, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)

Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen, center, speaks at a press conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

yesterday said that she would not rule out visiting Beijing and meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) if she wins the Jan. 16 election.

Asked by reporters whether she would visit Beijing if invited, given the widespread public criticism of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) planned meeting with Xi in Singapore tomorrow, especially from the pan-green camp, Tsai said: “There are just over 70 days left until the election and considering the atmosphere in society, I think the possibility of my visiting Beijing is not too high, but if I am elected next year, if the conditions that I mentioned before — including openness and transparency, equality and dignity, and no politics are met — I would not rule out the possibility.”

However, Tsai took a tougher tone commenting on Ma’s press conference at the Presidential Office yesterday morning and his remark that tomorrow’s meeting would create the basis to “build a bridge” for future meetings and interactions between the leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. [FULL STORY]

Ma falls on deaf ears over critics

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-05
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

President Ma Ying-jeou fell on deaf ears as he refused to comment on an earlier remark

Ma falls on deaf ears over critics. Central News Agency

by Democratic Progressive Party Tsai Ing-wen that his precipitated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping would hurt Taiwan’s democracy, reports said Thursday.

“I have no idea what she is talking about,” Ma refuted.

Ma, who held a press conference in the morning to address his upcoming summit in Singapore, slammed a local press reporter for bringing up the critic in which Tsai labeled the trip as “hurting Taiwan’s democracy.”

On Wednesday evening, Tsai condemned Ma Ying-jeou for planning the trip in a precipitated and secretive manner, saying it is harmful to Taiwan’s democratic values as the public is not well informed prior to his official announcement. She also condemned the planning process as a “black box” affair that lacks transparency and openness. [FULL STORY]

Opinion: Ma is digging his own grave

Taiwan News
Editorial
Date: 2015-11-05
By: Lin Yi-shen, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

Provided that there are no mishaps, President Ma Ying-jeou will get what he wants – a

Opinion: Ma digs his own grave. Central News Agency

meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore this coming Saturday. Not only will Ma make history, he is bound to drag the Kuomintang down to demise and into oblivion.

For the past seven years, Ma’s self-centeredness and egoistic ways have put the nation and its people struggling to make ends meet, whose well-being are being jeopardized as they fair the worst economic turmoil since Ma’s tenure in office. In hindsight, he’d rather forego the dignity and respect of the people by kowtowing to the Chinese.

To those familiar with international affairs and cross-strait relations, Ma’s premeditated trip to Singapore is nothing but another of his shoddy deals with Beijing, and a so-called “black-box” process conducted under the table. [FULL STORY]

Page 19 of 25

« 1 … 17 18 19 20 21 … 25 »