A commentary in Chinese state media is saying that China’s policy toward Taiwan has not changed and that its aim has always been “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan.
There had been speculation that China’s policy toward Taiwan had shifted after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang changed the wording of Beijing’s Taiwan policy at the National People’s Congress on Friday. Li did not mention “peaceful” when he referred to “reunification with Taiwan”.
Taiwan has been governed by the Republic of China government for more than 70 years, and has never been governed by the Beijing-based People’s Republic of China.
A news app for Chinese state media CCTV featured an editorial on Sunday commenting on the government’s report on Taiwan. The editorial offered an explanation for why the report omitted the word “peaceful” before its mention of “reunification” . The report also failed to mention the “1992 Consensus” or the “one China principle”.
The 1992 Consensus refers to an agreement between Beijing and a previous administration in Taipei that there is one China. It said that the two sides have different interpretations of what “one China” refers to.
The “one China principle” says that there is only one state under the name China.
The CCTV piece explained that this year’s report had been shortened so its wording on the Taiwan policy is briefer as well. The report is only about 10,000 characters, down from the usual 15,000. Due to the pandemic, China’s annual National People’s Congress has also been shortened from two weeks to one.
The CCTV commentary said that China’s policy toward Taiwan has not changed and that people should not overanalyze why certain phrases have been left out. It said China’s goal has always been for peaceful reunification with Taiwan.
Meanwhile, China’s defense ministry said on Sunday that the United States’ announcement last week that it will sell US$1.8 billion in arms to Taiwan was a “gross intervention in China’s internal affairs”. The ministry said it went against China’s “one China principle.”
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on Friday welcomed the announcement that the US would sell Taiwan 18 MK-48 advanced heavyweight torpedoes. He said that the weapons sale was in accordance with the United States’ Taiwan Relations Act. That act says that the US should help maintain security in the region and provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character.