Date: August 24, 2018
MAC Press Release No. 55
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng visited Japan and South Korea this week for exchanges. He explained Taiwan's cross-Strait policy at related institutions and think tanks in the two countries and emphasized that a peaceful and stable cross-Strait relationship is an important link in building regional security and prosperity in East Asia. Taiwan will never yield to the recent repeated pressure from Beijing. Such pressuring also cannot change the objective fact that the Republic of China (ROC) is a sovereign state. Taiwan will work closely with like-minded countries to make a positive contribution to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the wider region.
Deputy Minister Chiu noted at several seminars that Taiwan has been committed over the past two-plus years to maintaining the status quo of peaceful and stable cross-Strait relations; however, Beijing has deliberately and maliciously plotted to change the status quo, including through repeated pressuring to diplomatically limit Taiwan, targeted military intimidation, unilateral interruption of mechanisms for official interaction, and heightening tension in the Taiwan Strait. Recently, Beijing poached and established diplomatic relations with Taiwan’s ally El Salvador, and with intent to force Taiwan to yield to its political agenda. This is the root cause of the turmoil sabotaging peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the broader region.
Deputy Minister Chiu emphasized that Beijing has wrested away five of Taiwan's diplomatic allies over the past two-plus years. It has also aggressively obstructed Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organizations. This is in no way a result of any mistakes by Taiwan in the international sphere. It is a problem not just between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, but one which the international community faces together. Mainland China is engaging in "sharp power plunder" around the world. Whether by interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, or by undermining the international market order, the Mainland has created a high degree of instability in the world. The international community should heed and prevent the expansion of this overbearing power.
Deputy Minister Chiu said that the two Koreas have recently reduced tensions on the Korean Peninsula through peaceful dialogue, bringing a dawn of reconciliation and peace in Northeast Asia. This has again highlighted the global trend and universal value of resolving disputes through mutually beneficial cooperation, communication, and dialogue. Deputy Minister Chiu called on mainland China to immediately stop its repeated military threats, diplomatic suppression, and polarizing infiltration against Taiwan and to review the problem of apparent misjudgment in its internal governance and foreign policy. In its Taiwan policy, the Mainland should face the cross-Strait reality, respect Taiwan, and promptly resolve differences with Taiwan through communication and dialogue. This is the only approach beneficial to the development of positive cross-Strait interaction.
Deputy Minister Chiu said that Taiwan's adherence to democracy, freedom, human rights, the rule of law, and other universal values and systems aligns with international and regional interests. Facing new cross-Strait and regional developments, the ROC government will firmly defend national security and dignity, maintain the status quo of cross-Strait peace and stability in line with democratic principles and mainstream public opinion, continue to leave the door to communication wide open, and work to create conditions advantageous to promoting peace and prosperity in the Taiwan Strait and region.
During the trip, Deputy Minister Chiu visited the National Diet of Japan and National Assembly of South Korea and met with representatives. In Japan, he called on a cross-Strait relations research group at the University of Tokyo and Japanese think tank Sasakawa Peace Foundation and had discussions with several Japanese media senior editorial board members at a tea reception. In South Korea, Deputy Minister Chiu visited the National Democratic Institute, National Defense Policy Institute, Korea Institute for National Unification, Taiwan Studies Center at Korea University, and other academic institutions. During the visits, Deputy Minister Chiu fully explained Taiwan's policies and efforts to maintain peaceful and stable cross-Strait relations and exchange views with the participating Japanese and South Korean experts and scholars of cross-Strait politics and economy.