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Pro-independence supporters hold banners outside the inauguration ceremony of the new Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei on May 20. Photo: AFP

Beijing warns of ‘tension and turbulence’ in cross-strait ties if DPP shuns ‘one China’ principle

Mainland’s top official for Taiwan affairs Zhang Zhijun says it is the bedrock on which relations are based

Taiwan

Relations between the mainland and Taiwan would face tension and turbulence if the island failed to recognise the “one China” principle, the mainland’s top official for cross-strait affairs warned a group of Taiwan business representatives in Beijing on Thursday.

The remarks by Zhang Zhijun, head of the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, were Beijing’s latest in a series of blasts at Taipei since its Beijing-friendly Kuomintang government lost power to the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party.

Meanwhile, Yang Yujun, a defence ministry spokesman, said the People’s Liberation Army would “resolutely stem any form of separatist acts or attempts for Taiwan independence”.

Zhang repeated Beijing’s long-held stand that sustained development of peaceful cross-strait relations was premised on the one-China principle.

“As long as the mutual political foundation of the one-China principle is upheld, cross-strait ties can develop in a stable way, the situation in the Taiwan Strait can be peaceful and tranquil, and people on both sides can benefit,” he said.

If there was a departure from the principle, cross-strait relations “would face tension and turbulence”, he warned.

Zhang also stressed the importance of the 1992 consensus, the tacit understanding reached at a meeting between Taipei and Beijing in Hong Kong that year there was only one China but that each side had its own interpretation of what that “one China” was.

The DPP refuses to recognise the consensus and the one-China principle. Tsai Ing-wen, sworn in as president last week, avoided mention of “consensus” in her inaugural speech. Instead, she said she respected the “historic fact” that a meeting took place in 1992.

There is no future in Taiwan independence, and this cannot become an option for Taiwan’s future. This is the conclusion of history
Zhang Zhijun, head, Taiwan Affairs Office

The mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office responded by demanding Tsai “prove her sincerity in maintaining cross-strait relations”.

“There is no future in Taiwan independence, and it cannot become an option for Taiwan’s future. This is the conclusion of history,” Zhang told the business representatives, Xinhua reported.

“Some people say you must pay attention to broad public opinion in Taiwan, and that one can understand the attitude and feelings of Taiwan’s people formed by its special historical experiences and social environment,” Zhang said.

“But, Taiwan society ought to understand and attach importance to the feelings of the 1.37 billion residents of the mainland.”
Additional reporting by Reuters

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