MAC: China intentionally ignores Taiwan’s right to democracy and free choice
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) indicated today (March 15, 2007) that the future of Taiwan should be decided by the 23 million Taiwanese people. The results of recent public opinion surveys show that nearly 80 percent of the people surveyed support this view. On this position, there is an unshakable and firm consensus in Taiwan’s democratic society. The Beijing authorities have absolutely no grounds to determine the future of Taiwan and the ultimate course of cross-strait relations.
The MAC indicated that the so-called “political resolution” reached by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) harps on the same old tune of the so-called “one country, two systems” formula, which finds absolutely no market in Taiwan. Moreover, the CPPCC establishes again a political framework for cross-strait “unification” and unilaterally defines the so-called “de jure Taiwan independence.” These absurd acts show that the Chinese authorities have indeed intentionally ignored Taiwan’s right to democracy and free choice. The MAC stated that China has never been willing to face up to the cross-strait status quo in which Taiwan and China have no jurisdiction over each other. This situation has worsened further due to China’s enactment of the “anti-separation law” two years ago, in which China threatens to use “non-peaceful” means to suppress the democratic determination of the Taiwanese people. By making a recent announcement to the military, the Chinese leadership has again publicly declared its position of resolving the cross-strait issue through “non-peaceful” means. This highlights the fact that China’s professed position of “peace and development” as the essence of cross-strait relations is just sugar-coated propaganda that is fundamentally unable to disguise Beijing’s intentions to use military force to resolve the cross-strait dispute.
The MAC emphasized that the Taiwanese people will continue to insist on their national identity and Taiwan-centric consciousness. It also called on Beijing to adopt democratic mindset in facing up to the various efforts by the Taiwanese people to strengthen their self-identity and Taiwan-centric consciousness, and to promptly abandon the crude behavior of using political frameworks to set the future course of cross-strait relations.