Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

During a meeting with a delegation of pro-unification activists from Taiwan on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said that on major issues related to national unification and the Chinese people’s long-term development, Beijing’s stance is firm and there will be no compromise or wavering.

“Peaceful unification and ‘one country, two systems’ are our basic guidelines in solving the Taiwan issue,” Xi said, adding that policy implementation would take into consideration the actual situation in Taiwan.

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has been busy meeting foreign media in recent days. At the same time he and his administration have also been busy correcting reports following the interviews. Reported misquotes and mistranslations might have been simple mistakes by reporters, but they could also be justified inferences. If the inferences were valid, the government’s corrections show that it has engaged in opportunistic and double-faced tactics, and exposes how it has helped drive the country into a corner.