Taipei, March 9 (IANS) Taipei on Monday rejected Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent remarks about Taiwan, terming Beijing as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a “saboteur of cross-strait peace”, local media reported.
Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said that Taiwan has always been an independent sovereign nation and “neither the ROC [Republic of China] nor the PRC [People’s Republic of China] are subordinate to each other,” Taiwan’s leading daily Taipei Times reported on Monday.
“Whether based on historical facts, objective reality or international law, Taiwan’s sovereignty has never belonged to the PRC,” he said, adding that only people of Taiwan have the right to decide about the future of the country.
Lin Chia-lung stated that 1951s ‘Treaty of San Francisco’, an agreement signed between Japan and the Allied Powers after Second World War, has replaced wartime declarations.
He said that Taiwan’s liberalisation and democratisation, which started in the 1980s and the nation’ first presidential poll held in 1996 has made ROC as the only legal government representing people of Taiwan, adding that the events have consolidated the “status quo” of cross-strait ties.
Lin said that exercises held by Chinese military exercises in the Taiwan Strait in the recent years have severely impacted regional peace and stability and not Taiwan, Taipei Times reported.
Terming China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a “saboteur of cross-strait peace”, he urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work collaboratively to ensure peace and stability in the region. He urged the international community to condemn China’s unilateral attempts to change the “status quo” through coercion, military threats and the arbitrary intimidation of other nations.
Lin Chia-lung’s remarks came after Wang Yi had reportedly said that Taiwan has always been a part of China and that it would be impossible for it to become a nation.
While addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang Yi said that the “return” of Taiwan to China was the outcome of the resistance of people of China against Japan in the second world war and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed to fail”, stressing that the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Declaration, Japanese Instrument of Surrender and UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 determined Taiwan’s status.
Wang said, “The Taiwan problem is a part of China’s internal affairs and at the very core of its interests. This red line must not be trampled on.” He further mentioned that other nations recognise Taiwan as part of China and are against “Taiwan’s independence”, claiming that “unification aligns with international expectations” and that “it is a process that is inevitable.”
China considers Taiwan a breakaway region, which needs to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary. Despite China’s efforts, Taiwan, backed by strong public support, continues to assert its sovereignty and responds to China’s incursions.
