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NSB Head: Mainland Would React Strongly Should Tsai’s Inaugural Address Fail to Please
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 2016/03/18
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NSB Head: Mainland Would React Strongly Should Tsai’s Inaugural Address Fail to Please
Source: All Taipei newspapers March 18, 2016
During an interpellation session at the legislative Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (FADC) yesterday, DPP legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) asked what would happen if the Mainland was unhappy with President-elect Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) May 20th inaugural address. In response, Yang Kuo-chiang (楊國強), Director-General of the National Security Bureau (NSB) told legislators that the Mainland might shut down the existing cross-Strait consultation channels, ban Mainland tourists from visiting Taiwan, and take diplomatic actions to further reduce Taiwan’s international breathing space.
When asked what the government could do should the Mainland take any of the three actions against Taiwan, Yang stated that it would be up to the new government to make a response after May 20th.
Yang told legislators that all he could do was issue a caveat as the NSB was only charged with gathering intelligence. “The government would need to deal with such problems. The one in power has to respond,” added Yang.
Some legislators expressed concerns about the development of cross-Strait relations after May 20th during yesterday’s interpellation session. Yang told legislators that “one China” was the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) bottomline and that’s why we had adhered to the 1992 Consensus, i.e., “one China, different interpretations.”
Yang stated that the CCP was consistent on the content of “one China” and the “one China” framework. “The CCP emphasizes the ‘one China principle’ while Taiwan stresses ‘one China, different interpretations.’ This is why the two sides of the Strait had been able to maintain peaceful relations,” said Yang.
The NSB also delivered a written report to the legislators. In the report, the NSB pointed out that the CCP’s policy toward Taiwan was “jointly maintaining the one China framework” in 2013; “consolidating the one China framework’ in 2014; “firmly adhering to one China on either side of the Strait” in 2015; and “insisting on the 1992 Consensus” in 2016.
Yang stated that the CCP often changed the wording of its policy toward Taiwan, but its “one China” bottomline remained unchanged.
During the interpellation session, DPP legislator Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) stated that during a media interview Tsai Ing-wen once mentioned the historical facts regarding the cross-Strait talks between Taiwan’s Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Mainland’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) in 1992. Liu asked Yang whether or not Tsai’s remarks were tantamount to the 1992 Consensus. Yang replied, “The NSB has sensed that the CCP’s response was not as peaceful as before. The NSB has not sensed any hostility from the CCP, but the CPP’s response was strong.”
Mainland leader Xi Jinping (習近平) has said that cross-Strait relations are based on the “1992 Consensus” and that without the “1992 Consensus,” “the earth will shake and the mountains will rock (地動山搖).” In addition, last month, Wang Yi (王毅), Foreign Minister of Mainland China, formerly director of the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) under the Mainland’s State Council, stated at a think tank based in Washington, D.C., that he hoped and expected, “before that time came,” the person in power in Taiwan would indicate that she wanted to pursue the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, and that she would accept the provisions in Taiwan’s own constitution that the Mainland and Taiwan belonged to one, the same China.
Liu asked Yang if there was any difference between the remarks made by Xi and Wang on cross-Strait relations. Yang said he saw no difference as the Mainland adhered to the “one China’ principle” as its bottom line.
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