The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is urging China to respect the choice of Taiwanese people on the eve of the tenth anniversary of a Chinese law aimed at pressuring Taiwan against moving towards formal independence.
The council, which is Taiwan’s top China-policy maker, made the comments late on Friday. It said that China passed the anti-secession law on March 14, 2005, which gives China the legal basis to use force to prevent Taiwan from establishing formal independence.
Taiwan and China have been ruled separately for more than 60 years, but Beijing still claims that Taiwan is part of China.
The council said in a press release that China’s approach of unilaterally employing a law to decide the future of the two sides does not respect the choice of Taiwanese people.
The council stressed that the government’s China policy is “no unification, no independence, and no use of force”. It also said the government will continue to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait ties.