Don’t hold your breath for a breakthrough in President Tsai’s cross-Strait policy on National Day.
Op-Ed
The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/03
By: J. Michael Cole
As Oct. 10 approaches, a growing chorus of voices has argued that Taiwan’s National Day will be some
Photo Credit : REUTERS/達志影像
sort of “deadline” for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to deliver something palatable to Beijing.
The notion that Double Ten marks a point in cross-Strait relations, beyond which President Tsai’s refusal to acknowledge the so-called 1992 consensus and “one China” would prompt further punitive measures by China, has been around for a while. Chinese participants at various conferences and other settings have mentioned it, followed, often quietly in small circles, by a number of Western academics with “insider” knowledge.
The problem with all this, however, is that it is highly unlikely that such a deadline ever existed in the first place. Instead, the notion was planted as a “meme” by pseudo-Chinese academics with close ties to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda organs and intelligence agencies. By dint of repetition and circular corroboration — a key sign of united front at work — the notion took a life of its own and became accepted gospel, regurgitated by academics, the media, and government officials. They have created “facts” out of nothing, and expectations where none should have existed. [FULL STORY]
