Wang Yi Stresses Two Sides of the Strait Belong to One China

 Wang Yi Stresses Two Sides of the Strait Belong to One China

Sources: All Taipei Newspapers

February 26, 2016

Wang Yi (王毅), incumbent Foreign Minister of Mainland China, formerly director of the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) under the Mainland’s State Council, has copious experience in dealing with Taiwan affairs.  Wang delivered a speech titled “Chinese Foreign Policy and US-China Relations” at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think tank based in Washington, D.C.  

When asked about the future of cross-Strait relations, Wang answered, “While this is China’s internal affair, so it’s not in my purview or responsibilities, but let me say it’s just a change of government in Taiwan. It’s the result of electoral politics. It’s something natural. It should not come as too big a surprise. We do not care that much who is in power in the Taiwan region of China. What we care about is, once someone has come into power, how he or she handles the cross-Straits relationship, whether he or she will maintain the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, whether he or she will recommit to the political foundation of cross-Straits relations.  The One China principle, this is what we care about. There is still some time to the handover of Ma, which will come on May the 20th.  I hope and expect that before that time comes, the person in power in Taiwan will indicate that she wants to pursue the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, and that she will accept the provision in Taiwan’s own Constitution that the mainland and Taiwan belong to one, the same China. She is elected on the basis of the current Constitution of Taiwan, which still recognizes the Mainland and Taiwan as one, the same China. It will be difficult to imagine that someone who is elected on the basis of that Constitution should try to do anything in violation of Taiwan’s own Constitution. If she should attempt to do that, the international community will not accept it. The Mainland of China will not accept it.  And the people in Taiwan will not accept it because they want to see the continued peaceful development of cross-Straits relations. They want to see more Mainland visitors. They want to pursue more business ties with the Mainland. And they want to live in a climate of peace and tranquility. The next government in Taiwan must think about these issues in a serious way.” 

The TAO always stressed the importance of the “1992 Consensus,” and never used any phrases which called the island a sovereign state, such as the Republic of China (ROC) or ROC President. 

When Tsai Ing-wen visited the US last year, she stated that she would continue to push for peaceful development of cross-Strait relations according to the existing ROC Constitutional order.  David Brown, a member of the Board of the American Institute in Taiwan, then asked Tsai what she meant by the “ROC Constitutional order?”  Tsai answered that the ROC Constitutional order included the text of the ROC Constitution, the additional articles of the ROC Constitution, all judicial reviews of the Constitution, and current implementation of the ROC Constitution. 

The ROC Constitution was first amended in 1991 and the preface of the additional articles states that the purpose of the amendment was to address “certain affairs before the reunification of the country.”  Article 11 of the additional articles of the ROC Constitution stipulates: “rights and obligations between the people of the Chinese Mainland area and those of the free area, and the disposition of other related affairs may be specified by law.”

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