Reunification an ‘irresistable trend’
TAIWAN’S participation in activities of international organizations must be based on the one-China principle, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said yesterday, adding that achieving the country’s greatness, national rejuvenation and Cross-Strait reunification is the trend of history, which can never be blocked.
Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks in response to the Democratic Progressive Party authority’s claim that it failed to attend the International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly held in Canada due to “pressure” from the mainland and that Taiwan’s aviation safety could be affected.
“Our position is consistent and clear that the issue about Taiwan’s participation in activities of international organizations including the ICAO must be handled in accordance with the one-China principle,” said Ma at a press conference.
Ma stressed that the mainland has always paid attention to the demands of Taiwan compatriots in the civil aviation field, adding that Taiwan has open channels for access to standards, suggestions and relative materials from the ICAO and has flights to many cities in the world.
“Facts have proven that Taiwan’s aviation safety and its flights to and from other regions have no connection with whether the DPP authority participates in the ICAO assembly,” Ma said.
“The past 70 years of relations across the Taiwan Strait have witnessed compatriots on both sides of the Strait breaking down their isolation and engaging in increasingly extensive exchanges and cooperation,” said Ma.
By the end of 2018, 135 million Cross-Strait visits were logged, including over 100 million made by people from Taiwan; two-way trade reached US$226 billion last year.
Over 70 years, the two sides across the Strait have conducted equal consultation, sought common ground while shelving differences, and improved and developed Cross-Strait relations on the basis of the 1992 Consensus, Ma said.
“The past 70 years are also a history of opposing and deterring separatist elements advocating ‘Taiwan independence,’ resolutely safeguarding China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, promoting the peaceful development of CrossStrait relations and advancing the peaceful reunification of the motherland.”
(Xinhua)