Taiwan leader Tsai’s claim of mainland pressure slammed as ‘groundless hype’

Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen’s accusations that the Chinese mainland is using its political pressure to tame companies from the island have been slammed as “groundless hype”, and her comments would further worsen cross-Straits relations.

Tsai, also head of the “pro-independence” Democratic Progressive Party that currently holds office in the island, made the comments on Tuesday amid wide debate over an incident involving Wu Pao-chun, a renowned baker from Taiwan, who openly identified himself as a “Chinese” on Sina Weibo on Monday.

Wu, who opened a bakery in Shanghai last Friday, said in the statement that he is proud to be Chinese. Wu claimed himself as a Chinese person from Taiwan who insisted that “the people across the Strait are family.”

Wu also denied he had ever released any pro-independence comments and expressed his firm support for and recognition of the 1992 Consensus, according to the statement.

The 1992 Consensus is an agreement reached between the mainland and Taiwan in 1992 to adhere to the one-China principle.

Taiwan News reported that during an interview in 2016, Wu said that over the years, many investors from around the world had invited him to open bakeries overseas. Some of the investors were from the mainland, but Wu remained unmoved by their offers. “China has a market of 1.3 billion people, but the whole world has more than 7 billion people, so I won’t just look to China.”

Wu has since been labeled as proindependence by numerous mainland customers.

Wu’s statement right after his business opened in Shanghai was deemed by some Taiwan net users as a “twofaced businessman’s behavior,” before it was interpreted by Tsai as evidence to justify her accusation against the Chinese mainland.

At a news conference on Tuesday with Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu, Wu said, “The world of bread is simple and happy. I am a very simple baker.” The mayor also called Taiwan people to support Wu, Taiwan-based news site ETtoday reported.

Analysts reached by the Global Times on Tuesday said Tsai’s remarks only deteriorated cross-Straits relations. There is no such thing as “choosing sides” before Tsai’s administration, which has been against the 1992 Consensus.

Tsai must understand that while the mainland government encourages Taiwan enterprises to start businesses here, they have to pass the scrutiny of mainland people, who won’t allow the coexistence of “Taiwan independence” and “earning profits in mainland,” Zhu Songling, a professor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Beijing Union University, told the Global Times.