It is China that has not only attempted to change the cross-strait status quo through the use of force, but it has also incessantly engaged in military expansion to sabotage security in the Taiwan Strait
In response to the statement made by the Chinese leadership today (September 6, 2007) at the conclusion of the U.S.-China bilateral talks in Australia, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) issues the following declaration:
China has not only continued to propagandize its so-called “one China” principle in the international arena to deprive Taiwan of international space, but has also carried out political and military suppression and threats against Taiwan’s efforts to deepen democracy, thus causing severe damage and threat to the fundamental rights and interests as well as the life and property of the 23 million Taiwanese people. China’s such actions have turned out to be nothing different from unilaterally changing the cross-strait status quo, which has actually been the major factor fuelling instability in the region.
It is worth noting that on the one hand, China has repeatedly declared that it “places hope on the people of Taiwan;” on the other hand, it has constantly reinforced military deployment against Taiwan. China has recently carried out military exercises in the Nanjing and Jinan military regions that are targeted at Taiwan. China’s such an attempt at adopting a two-pronged carrot-and-stick strategy to drive a wedge into internal consensus in Taiwan and to psychologically intimidate the Taiwanese people is unconducive to the positive development of cross-strait relations. The MAC believes that it is China that has attempted to change the cross-strait status quo through the use of force, and it is also China that has incessantly engaged in military expansion to sabotage security in the Taiwan Strait. The voice for holding a public referendum on Taiwan's bid to join the United Nations comes from the public, and such a referendum has also been the consensus between the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and Taiwan’s main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party. Taiwan's efforts are aimed at safeguarding the cross-strait status quo against any unilateral change by China. Therefore, the Taiwanese government solemnly urges the United States to face up to the threats that China's military expansion has caused to security in the Taiwan Strait and to firmly oppose China's attempts to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait through the use of force.