No.14 , November 14, 2019

China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of the State Council and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently announced several measures to promote cross-strait economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation, known as the "26 Measures."
(Photo from: http://www.taiwan.cn/)

● Featured News: Taiwan Condemns China’s Latest Favorable Measures As “One Country, Two Systems” Action Plan

● Featured Opinion: Tsai Administration Over-reacted To China’s Latest Favorable Treatment Measures
● Featured Opinion: Perspective: Duel Between The White Paper And Black Paper
● This Week in Taiwan: Other Important Events This Week

Taiwan Condemns China’s Latest Favorable Measures As “One Country, Two Systems” Action Plan

United Daily News, November 5, 2019

 

The Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of China’s State Council, along with 20 other ministerial-level agencies, launched a new “26 Measures” towards Taiwan yesterday. Based upon last year’s “31 Measures,” the new policies aims to further materialize a comprehensive offer of favorable treatments to Taiwan, by which Taiwanese businesses are entitled to participate in mainland China’s scientific and technological innovation and share the fruits of economic development. The citizens of Taiwan are entitled to enjoy more support and convenience in consular aegis, purchase of property, education, and career opportunities. The new measures open the door to Taiwanese-funded enterprises to take part in the mainland’s 5G development.

 

This 26 Measures have a long name: “Some measures about further promoting Cross-Straits economic and cultural exchange”. They offer Taiwanese-funded enterprises and Taiwanese citizens treatment equal to a mainland Chinese citizen. Taiwan’s Office of the President and Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) both denounced the measures as “beneficial to China in the name of favoring Taiwan”, an action-plan Taiwan version of “One Country, Two Systems”, and proof of interfering with Taiwan’s presidential election in January next year. .

 

Among these 26 Offers, there are 13 items aiming to Taiwanese enterprises and general public. Taiwanese-funded enterprises may equally take part in mainland China’s major projects of technology equipment, 5G, circular economy, civil aviation, theme parks, new-type financial organization, and so on. They also equally enjoy financing, trade relief, export credit insurance, import and export convenience, and standard setting. The new policies support the youth in launching pilot projects for start-up businesses.  

 

The new policy which provides favorable treatment to the Taiwanese public, including consular protection, agricultural cooperation, transportation and travel, communication fare rate, purchasing properties, culture and sport, professional rating, classified recruiting and so on. Among these 26 Offers, the most concerned one by MAC is item 10, which provides: “Fellow citizens of Taiwan may seek consular protection and assistance and apply travel documents from the embassies and consulates of People’s Republic of China all over the world.” The MAC criticized China for implementing such measures intended to degrade Taiwan’s s sovereignty and create an illusion of China’s jurisdiction over Taiwan.

 

However, the TAO asserted that the implementing of 26 Offers is to better realize the essence of “Xi’s Five Points” proposed by President Xi Jinping on January 2. It is consistent with the spirit of the fourth plenum of 19th Assembly of Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The arrangement provides measures to perfect cross-strait exchange and cooperation, deepen integration of the two sides, and safeguard the welfare of Taiwanese people.

 

The TAO explained that among the 26 Measures, 13 are aimed to the Taiwanese public, extending to them favorable treatment afforded to Chinese citizens. The policy is consistent with the 31 Measures last year, which hope to extend people-oriented policies of China to Taiwanese compatriots.

 

Meanwhile yesterday, during the Annual Summit of Cross-Strait Entrepreneurs held in Nanjing, Wang Yang, chairman of China’s Political Consultative Conference, remarked that the 26 Offers newly launched will provide “quasi-citizen” status to Taiwanese compatriots and enterprises in many areas. This will broaden the road to future integration.

 

From: https://udn.com/news/story/120814/4144717

In her response to China's "26 Measures," President Tsai Ing-wen argued that this is an "action plan" of unification under "One Country, Two Systems" intended to influence Taiwan's presidential election.
(Photo from: United Daily News)

Tsai Administration Over-reacted To China’s Latest Favorable Treatment Measures

By Shao Zong Hai
China Times, November 6, 2019

 

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of the State Council, together with 20 other ministerial-level government agencies, promulgated “Measures Further to Strengthen Promoting Economic and Cultural Exchanges and Cooperation Across the Taiwan Strait,” or simply the “26 Measures,” on November 4.

 

The timing of these measures reflects China’s desire to serve and win the hearts of the Taiwanese people. The key points of these measures are “continuing to prioritize sharing with Taiwanese compatriots the fruits of development and opportunity in mainland China” and “to provide more equal treatment to Taiwanese compatriots and Taiwanese enterprises.”

 

Wiping Out China’s Goodwill

 

After these measures were promulgated, they were criticized by Taiwan as a “unification tactic,” “benefiting mainland China in the name of Taiwan,” action plan of “One Country, Two Systems,” and ploy to intervene in Taiwan’s elections in January. Logically, these accusations might have great discrepancies with real situation. Maybe, under the overwhelming “anti-China” or “vilifying China” in Taiwanese society today, particularly when Taiwan presidential election is entering into a white heated situation. In the very sensitive moment, China announced some policies beneficial to Taiwanese but not necessary all beneficial to Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) re-election campaign, of course the ruling party, psychologically might have defensive and suspicious reaction. This is understandable, but the rhetoric of the government should not totally vilify the 26 Measures or totally wipe out the goodwill of the mainland.

 

A succinct illustration can clarify these misguided accusations from the Taiwan government: for instance, when mainland China hopes to share the fruits of development and opportunity on the mainland or afford national treatment can be described as “unification tactic,” then will the ruling DPP administration also treat or describe all favorable measures to Taiwan offered by any foreign entities in the future as unification tactic, or flatly reject them all? Even to those pro-Taiwan acts or resolutions passed by the United States Congress recently will also be considered as unification tactics? Basically, to all foreign ”provisions”, generally government at most will give advice to its people either to accept or reject and rarely we ever see using such inappropriate figure of speech (or description) to incite its people.

 

Besides, pinpointing to the clause providing that “Taiwanese compatriots can seek for consular protection or assistance and apply for travel documents from overseas missions of the People’s Republic of China (PRC),” Ann Ou Chiang, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, commented that this infringes Taiwan’s national sovereignty, as Taiwan does not recognize passports of mainland China. If Taiwanese citizens have their travel documents bearing a mainland Chinese government record, even apply for PRC passports, legal issues will arise.

 

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said that if Taiwanese people were to use PRC passports, their Taiwan nationality would be canceled. In fact, if we check clause by clause of the original Measures, we find it clearly stipulates “accept overseas Taiwanese (in case of emergency) application for all kinds of travel documents.”; there is nowhere can be found the words of “application and use of PRC passports”. When a government official rebutted immediately without looking clearly into the original text. It’s obviously that the government’s reaction was not cautious enough but only over excited.

 

Fooling the People

 

Furthermore, that the ruling DPP administration analogized the measures to an action plan of “One Country, Two Systems” is totally irrelevant. As a matter of fact, the favorable treatment measures provide a policy of national treatment for Taiwanese people in mainland China before reaching the phase of unification. On the other hand, the “One Country Two Systems ” formula was unilaterally proposed by China to Taiwan during a time when both sides move into reunification negotiation phase, by then both sides can have ample space of discussion over it. Hence, we can find that both sides have very great discrepancy in terms of point of time and agenda. But DPP administration has purposely interpreted directly the proposal “prior to the phase of yet moving into reunification” as the one for the “phase of moving into reunification negotiation.” If it is not purposely to vivify or twist the goodwill of Beijing, then it is a fooling tactic used to manipulate Taiwanese people.

 

In general terms, for the people of Taiwan, mainland China’s favorable treatment measures are just a matter of choice between “ acceptance” or “rejection”. As for the position of Taiwan’s government, at most, it is simply to provide the Taiwanese people with more background information to make their choice. It seems not necessary to link (couple) the outcome of people’s choice with the government’s “coercion” and “menace”.

 

(The author is emeritus professor of Xiamen University of Technology)

 

From: https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20191106004234-262104

Perspective: Duel Between The White Paper And Black Paper

By Chao Chien-min, Dean of the College of Social Sciences, Chinese Culture University

United Daily News, November 10, 2019

 

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of the State Council announced a new set of 26 measures to promote cross-strait economic and cultural exchange on November 4. Taiwan’s Office of the President immediately called these measures an “action plan” of the “One Country, Two Systems” in a clear attempt to link the new measures to turmoil in Honk Kong.

 

However, “One Country, Two Systems” was first introduced by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping when meeting a Hong Kong delegation in August 1984. The formula means that “within the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Chinese mainland with one billion population practices socialist system, while Hong Kong and Taiwan practice capitalist system.” It was a declaration before the handover of Hong Kong using the “Hong Kong ruled by Hong Kong people” tailor-made formula to appease people’s fear over the return to China. The Tsai administration wantonly applies “One Country, Two Systems” on the Republic of China (ROC), which is a sovereign state, not only makes people question the worth of her national security team, but also exposes unintentionally the self-deprecation mentality of identifying with the return to China.

 

The above case proves once again that the Tsai administration is unable to devise any appropriate measures to cope with the cross-strait situation. Facing the three crises, namely the heightened risk of war in the Taiwan Strait, the loss of national sovereignty and the slowdown of economic development, the ruling party simply throws up her hands in despair. There is no vision, certainly no hope, and the black hole effect in the Taiwan Strait continues to worsen.

 

First, there is a rising probability of collision between the two sides of Taiwan Strait. The leadership on the Chinese mainland has hardened his rhetoric against Taiwan independence. Xi Jinping, during the 19th National Party Congress of the Communist Party, vowed: “We are determined to defeat Taiwan independence...never allow any individual, organization, or political party, at any time, in any form, separate any piece of land from the Chinese territory.” However, the current premier of the Executive Yuan and his predecessor still openly support Taiwan independence. US scholar Ian Easton of Project 2049 Institute wrote a newspaper article recently saying that “the Taiwan Strait is arguably the most dangerous flashpoint on the planet. However, the strategic thinking of the leaders in Washington and Taipei is feeble. The possibility of conflict in the foreseeable future cannot be ruled out.” According to a United Daily News survey on cross-strait war and peace in September, the hostility index between mainland China and Taiwan has risen from an average 5.5 under the Ma administration to 6.7 under the Tsai administration on a 10-point scale. In the last two years the index has even climbed up to 7.

 

Second, the Tsai administration has distrusted the people. After passages of the five amendments to national security related laws, the ruling party’s Legislative Yuan caucus is busy again introducing a Chinese Agent Registration Act. The Tsai government arbitrarily introduced the Act which targets Taiwan's own citizens despite that there is no clear definition of its content on national security and political propaganda. Similarly, the Tsai government rejected China Pilot Free Trade Zone to come to Taiwan on the ground that it would help mainland Chinese products to launder its country of origin. These are all unnecessary restrictions imposed by the Tsai government.

 

Third, Taiwan is becoming more diplomatically isolated than ever. In addition to the avalanche of losing diplomatic allies, Taiwan will soon be faced with the renewal of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with mainland China next year. The ECFA has saved Taiwan tariffs worth up to NT$200 billion (about US$ 6.5 billion) over the last 10 years. On the savings alone, Taiwan should work hard to conclude a better Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Goods under the ECFA framework. However, the economic minister purposely downplayed the significance of the renewal by saying that the export under ECFA was merely 5 percent of the total export. He seemed to forget that 5 percent is NT$600 billion (about US$19.75 billion)! It is incomprehensible that the Tsai government would understate such a huge profit; no wonder the government could not care less about the imminent conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) early next year. The 16 signatories of the RCEP agreement accounts for nearly 60 percent of total trade and 65 percent of total outbound investment of Taiwan and Taiwan is still not a member.

 

Fourth, there is serious split in government policy. The ruling party has adopted a policy of division and exclusiveness which manipulates ethnic complex by pitting local Taiwanese against mainlanders and Taiwan identity against Republic of China identity. Tsai has said the election next year is a choice between safeguarding Taiwan and unifying with China; it is also a choice between protecting democracy and turning Taiwan into Hong Kong. These statements clearly demonstrate her lack of confidence in the people of Taiwan and the foundation of democracy in Taiwan. How can she unite the people of Taiwan to face the surmounting offensive from China? This is a piece of black paper on the cross-strait policy!

 

As the chair of cross-strait policy in the policy advisory team for Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu, I have been most concerned with how to avoid falling into the afore-mentioned black hole in drafting the cross-strait policy white paper. The policy on our side should emphasize conciliation and dialogue, not confrontation; should advance our sovereignty, not self-deprecation; should initiate and go out actively, not retreat in self-isolation; should unite and combine strength, not divide and have suspicion among one another. The key is in the Republic of China if we want to achieve the above goals.

 

The greatest common divisor in Taiwanese politics is the Republic of China. President Tsai did not bother to mention the official name of our country, yet she has made a strange statement recently by maintaining that the ROC has stood on Taiwan for over 70 years, with the election close. If President Tsai is sincere to identify with the ROC, then it should not be a problem for her to accept “the 1992 consensus of one China with different interpretations.” If so, the conciliation between the two sides of Taiwan Strait should not be so difficult. It seems to me that what President Tsai calls the resistance against China is actually the ROC. The devil in her heart is not the PRC, but rather the ROC.

 

The election next year is not only a battle to protect the ROC, but also a duel between the white paper and the black paper.

From: https://udn.com/news/story/11321/4155471

November 4: The United States Department of Homeland Security and the Taiwan government held a joint cyber-security drill. Ten (10) countries participated in a mock cyber-war, testing the capabilities of the Taiwanese financial industry in the face of cyber-attacks. This is a milestone in U.S.-Taiwan cyber-cooperation. According to the Department of Cyber Security of the Executive Yuan, the government experiences an average of 30 million overseas cyber attacks every month, but the successful defense rate is as high as 99.99 percent.

November 5: The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) announced that due to the trade war between China and the United States, imports from China to the United States affected by tariffs have fell from $130 billion to $95 billion, a reduction of more than $35 billion. Taiwan became the biggest beneficiary of trade transfers, with exports to the United States increasing by $4.2 billion.

November 6: Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu was reported by media to have purchased a luxury home in Taipei for NT$72 million (about US$2.3 million) in 2011 while he was unemployed. Han explained that he did not hold public office then, had purchased a pre-sale home by mortgage, and decided to sell the property later due to financial pressure. Han said that the transaction is completely legal and criticized the state apparatus for intervening and infringing on his privacy during the election season.

November 7: The second wave of prosecutorial investigations related to the smuggling of cigarettes during President Tsai Ing-wen’s foreign visit has concluded. Prosecution against 27 people, including former official guards Lin Kuo-chin and Chang Chia-ling, will be deferred for one year. They will have to pay a required bail ranging from NT$30,000 (about US$985) to NT$300,000 (about US$9,850) for the deferred prosecution.

November 7: In the Group B preliminaries of the WBSC Premier12 held in Taichung, Taiwan, participating as Chinese Taipei, scored two consecutive victories. Although Taiwan lost to Japan on November 7, Taiwan has still advanced to the Class 6 baseball semi-finals in Tokyo, Japan and has the chance to participate in the Tokyo Olympics next year.

November 11: KMT presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu announced Simon Chang, former premier and currently head of Han’s policy advisory team, as his running mate. Chang formerly served as minister of science and technology, vice premier, and premier for 109 days at the end of the former Ma administration. Chang organized a policy advisory group for Han, and the two have cooperated closely. Chang criticized the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen for having  exhausted Taiwan. He said that he is willing to come forward in order to thwart Tsai’s re-election.

Taiwan Weekly is a newsletter released every week by Fair Winds Foundation, Taipei Forum, and Association of Foreign Relations that provides coverage and perspectives into the latest developments in Taiwan.

The conclusions and recommendations of any Taiwan Weekly article are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the institutions that publish the newsletter.

If you like the content of Taiwan Weekly, Subscribe here.