Xi reiterates firm Taiwan stance

Mainland tourists visiting Taiwan dropped in May, June

Top leader Xi Jinping stressed the political foundation of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and reiterated the country’s opposition to “Taiwan independence” at a rally on Friday, calling both sides of the Taiwan Straits to work for the peaceful development of their relations.

“We firmly oppose the ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist activities,” Xi said at the ceremony marking the 95th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Friday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

“More than 1.3 billion Chinese people and the whole Chinese nation will by no means tolerate secessionist activities by any person, at any time and in any form,” he said.

Xi’s remarks shows mainland’s unwavering stance and zero-tolerance of “Taiwan independence,” said experts.

In addition, they added that Taiwan administration’s ambiguity on recognizing the 1992 Consensus, which emphasizes one-China principle, actually harmed the interests of Taiwan.

The number of mainland tourists visiting Taiwan dropped by 15 percent in May and June compared with the same period last year, Chang Hsiao-yueh, head of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, was quoted by Taipei-based Central News Agency as saying on Thursday.

The drop, which happened after Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) head Tsai Ing-wen gave her inauguration speech on May 20, might continue in the second half of 2016, and many Taiwan businesses will suffer, Taiwan- based news site udn.com reported.

However, less economic cooperation with the mainland and the fall in mainland tourist numbers will come no surprise to Tsai, who obviously wanted the Taiwan to be less reliant on the mainland economically, Chang Ya-chung, an international relations professor at National Taiwan University, told the Global Times.

Meanwhile, the communication mechanisms between the mainland and Taiwan have been suspended over Taiwan administration’s failure to recognize the 1992 Consensus, An Fengshan, spokesperson for the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said on June 25.

An said at a press conference on Wednesday that Taiwan should take full responsibility for the suspension

“Taiwan might suffer from the stall, but the DPP won’t, and actually nor will it care much because the stall and decreasing trade with the Chinese mainland won’t jeopardize its administration,” a Taiwan-based scholar told the Global Times, asking for anonymity.

Also on Friday, a Taiwan warship mistakenly launched a supersonic “aircraft carrier killer” missile towards the mainland at around 8:10, hitting a fishing boat and killing one person, AFP reported.

Zhang Zhijun, the Chinese mainland’s Taiwan affairs chief, responded later on Friday that Taiwan needs to give a responsible explanation on the incident that caused severe impact at a time when the mainland is reiterating the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, Xinhua reported.