Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Force still an option for unification: Xi

Taipei Times

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the 1979 “Message to Compatriots in Taiwan” at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday.
Photo: AFP

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said he would not renounce the use of force against foreign forces and pro-Taiwan independence “separatists” that interfere with China’s goal of peaceful unification as he announced plans to explore using the “one country, two systems” model with Taiwan.

Taiwan will prevail against China

Taipei Times Editorial

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday delivered a forthright New Year’s Day address, her first major speech since her party’s poor showing in the local elections. Her speech contained tough words for Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平):

“Here, I would like to call on China to face squarely the reality of the existence of the Republic of China on Taiwan,” Tsai said, adding that China “must respect the insistence of 23 million people on freedom and democracy, and must use peaceful, on-parity means to handle our differences.”

Tsai needs resolution over China

Taipei Times Editorial

While China’s bullying and obstruction of Taiwan’s international space is nothing new, the nation this year is expected to face accelerated aggression from Beijing as its haughtiness has been emboldened by the China-friendly Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) gains in the Nov. 24 local elections.

With numerous KMT winners endorsing the so-called “1992 consensus,” Beijing will take it as a sign that pro-China sentiment is rising, despite cross-strait affairs clearly not being the focus during campaigning. Its increasing arrogance is apparent.

DPP must remember Sunflowers

Michael Lin 林子堯

On Dec. 18, former premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) returned to his alma mater and former employer, National Taiwan University (NTU), to give a talk at the Department of Political Science. However, students who tool part in the 2014 Sunflower movement protested his presence and the event was abandoned. Meanwhile, a former NTU professor who opposed Jiang’s talk was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant and narrowly avoided being killed. These incidents show that there is still a serious rift in society, despite it being four years since the Sunflower movement. Students and the wider public are clearly unable to put the events of 2014 behind them.

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