On January 13th, 2024, the leadership and legislature elections of China’s Taiwan region were held. Candidates of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the leadership election. In the election of the island's 113-seat legislature, the Chinese Kuomintang Party garnered 52 seats, the DPP 51 seats, and the Taiwan People's Party 8 seats. The rest two went to independent candidates. Many Bangladeshi friends care about the election. I would like to share some observations.
First, the elections will not change the basic fact that both Taiwan and the Mainland belong to but one China. The Taiwan question is an internal affair of China. It stands at the core of China’s core interests. There is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing China.
The one-China principle has long been a widely recognised norm governing international relations and an overwhelming consensus shared by the international community. Commitment to the one-China principle is the solid anchor to cross-Strait peace and stability and the political foundation and prerequisite for the growth of China’s relations with other countries.
Second, the results of the elections reveal that the DPP cannot represent the mainstream public opinion on the island. The DPP candidates won the leadership election with 40.05% vote, much lower than the 57.13% they got in 2020. Those in support of peaceful reunification now occupy more seats in the legislature than DPP does.
It is obvious that the results of the elections cannot change the landscape and development trend of cross-Strait relations, nor can it alter the shared aspiration of Chinese compatriots across the Taiwan Strait to forge closer ties. The inevitable trend of China’s reunification will not be impeded.
Third, it is the “Taiwan independence” separatists and the external forces colluding with them that endanger peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Since taking power in 2016, the DPP authorities have clung to their separatist position of seeking “Taiwan independence,” refused to accept the one-China principle, and distorted and denied the 1992 Consensus.
They have been pursuing “de-sinicization” and “incremental independence” on the Taiwan island, and obstructing and undermining exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait. They have been colluding with external forces in successive provocative actions designed to divide the country, and building up military forces more quickly in an attempt to seek “independence” and resist reunification by force.
Such acts have resulted in tensions in the cross-Strait relations, jeopardised peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, and undermined the prospects and squeezed the space for peaceful reunification. Certain western countries talk the talk but do not walk the walk. On the one hand, they claim not to support the independence of Taiwan. On the other hand, they have constantly distorted, altered, obscured and hollowed out the one-China principle, and played the "Taiwan card" by hook or by crook. Their blatant interference into China’s internal affairs is a true threat to the cross-Strait relations.
China cares about and cherishes the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait more than any others do. However, “Taiwan independence” and cross-Strait peace and stability are as irreconcilable as fire and water. There is no space for the Chinese government to compromise with those “Taiwan independence” separatists who have betrayed their ancestors by denying their identity as Chinese.
Instead, the Mainland will adhere to the 1992 Consensus that embodies the one-China principle, work with relevant political parties, groups and people from various sectors in Taiwan to boost cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation, enhance cross-Strait integrated development, jointly promote Chinese culture, and advance the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations for the cause of national reunification.
The Bangladeshi government as well as all walks of life across the country has long adhered to the one-China principle and always stands with China on the right side of history in favour of peace, for which China highly appreciates and commends. It is my firm conviction that the Bangladeshi friends, together with the international community, will continue upholding the one-China principle and extend understandings and supports for the Chinese people’s just cause of opposing “Taiwan independence” and striving for national reunification.
The writer is the Ambassador of China to Bangladesh