News Reference Material
Date: February 10, 2023
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) issued the following statement today (February 10, 2023) in regards to the Taiwan-related remarks made by Member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee Wang Huning. The MAC emphasized that the Beijing authorities' persistent political, military, and economic coercion against Taiwan is inconducive to the well-being of Taiwanese people and threatens regional peace. We believe that "authoritarianism, assertiveness, and expansionism" are incompatible with "democracy, peace, and stability." This is a globally recognized fact and the main reason why the international community has been keen to interact with Taiwan.
The MAC indicated that cross-Strait exchanges and interaction should be based on rationality, equality, and mutual respect. On the basis of these spirits, the two sides should further seek to engage in pragmatic communication, deepen mutual understanding, and resolve our differences. Senior CCP officials need to come up with constructive, meaningful, and pragmatic solutions instead of exploiting the golden opportunities of healthy post-pandemic exchanges to drive their political propaganda and division-aimed united front work resisted by the people of Taiwan.
The MAC reiterated that a chasm exists between the CCP's one-party dictatorship and Taiwan's democratic system. The people of Taiwan share a unanimous belief in and firm stance on safeguarding national sovereignty, cross-Strait peace, and Taiwan's future, a stance that the CCP has no right to judge. For a long time, the Beijing authorities have repeatedly resorted to political manipulation and deliberate disruption in cross-Strait exchanges. We call on the other side across the Taiwan Strait to adopt fundamentally different approaches, try to resolve problems through communication without political preconditions, and renounce its coercive actions against Taiwan; only through these actions will it be able to truly and responsibly maintain cross-Strait peace and advance the well-being of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.