Date: November 10, 2018
MAC Press Release No. 071
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today (November 10, 2018) issued the following solemn position in response to inappropriate Taiwan-related statements by high-level officials from mainland China's foreign affairs and defense ministries at a press conference after the US-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue:
1. The Republic of China (ROC) is a sovereign state. Taiwan has never been part of the other side. Beijing has long belittled Taiwan in the international arena, increasingly practiced political and military pressure and intimidation against Taiwan, and attempted to annex Taiwan by force. Such actions constitute the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and to the development of cross-Strait relations and are absolutely unacceptable to the Taiwanese people. Cross-Strait relations are not the same as the North-South relations of American history. Beijing's erroneous comparison is utterly disconnected from the history of and reality in the Taiwan Strait. The MAC stressed that Beijing's zero-sum thinking is the driver of the escalating spiral of hostility across the Taiwan Strait. Beijing should face up to the serious consequences of this and stop its inappropriate comments and actions.
2. As a responsible party in maintaining cross-Strait and regional peace, Taiwan will firmly safeguard its national sovereignty and the values of democracy and freedom. Taiwan will also continue to deepen cooperation with like-minded countries, including the US, closely to watch the CCP's threat to human rights and expansion of external hegemony and jointly to maintain cross-Strait and regional peace and stability.. We also again stress to the other side that differences can only be truly resolved by replacing force and intimidation with civilized and rational communication.