Xi warns against Taiwan secession
Print Edition
PRESIDENT Xi Jinping on Saturday warned against “Taiwan independence,” saying that national secession should not be repeated.
“We will resolutely contain ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist activities in any form,” he said as he met lawmakers from Shanghai on the first day of the national legislature’s annual session.
“We will safeguard the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and never allow the historical tragedy of national secession to happen again,” Xi said.
“This is the common wish and will of all Chinese people. It is also our solemn commitment and our responsibility to history and the people,” he said.
“Our policy toward Taiwan is clear and consistent, and it will not change along with the change in Taiwan’s political situation,” Xi told the legislators.
Tsai Ing-wen, candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party, won Taiwan’s leadership election in January.
Tsai defeated Eric Chu, candidate of the Kuomintang, the party that had ruled Taiwan for the past eight years.
“Compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait are expecting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, and we should not disappoint them,” Xi said.
“We will adhere to the 1992 Consensus as a political foundation, and continuously advance the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties,” he said.
Only by accepting the 1992 Consensus and recognizing its core implications can the two sides have a common political foundation and maintain good interactions, Xi said.
The 1992 Consensus clearly defines the nature of cross-Strait ties and is the basis for the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties in the long run.
Xi said the results of the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties should be safeguarded by compatriots from both sides. Realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation also needs the concerted efforts of people across the strait.
The Chinese mainland will further promote cross-Strait cooperation and exchanges in all fields, deepen economic and social integration, and enhance the sense of a community of common destiny, the president said.
Fan Yun, deputy to the National People’s Congress, the national legislature, and chairman of a Shanghai-based consulting firm, told Xinhua that in recent years Taiwan companies have benefited from the rapid development of the Chinese mainland.
As an entrepreneur, she believed that she has the commitment to tightening economic relations between the mainland and Taiwan.
Chen Weiwen, a national legislator and head of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League Guangdong Provincial Committee, said Xi’s remarks reiterate the Chinese mainland’s bottom line. It is also a stern warning against the Taiwan independence activists.
“The essence of the 1992 Consensus is recognizing the one-China principle and denying the rhetoric saying that each side of the Taiwan Strait is a country,” Chen said.
“The president’s remarks showed that the ultimate goal of peaceful development of cross-Strait ties is to achieve peaceful reunification of the two sides,” Kong Lingzhi, an NPC deputy from Jilin Province, with Taiwan as his native place of origin.
The NPC and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee, the top political advisory body, are now on their annual sessions, with legislators and political advisers discussing major state affairs.
Also on Saturday, President Xi said that Shanghai should continue to serve as a vanguard and pioneer in reform and innovation.
The city should use its pioneering spirit and vigor to be innovative in the way it advances reform, he said.
The president asked the region to accelerate measures that will help establish it as a globally influential center for technology and innovation.
As the country’s finance and trade center, Shanghai was chosen as the location for China’s first-ever free trade zone and has been used by policy-makers as a testing ground for new policies.
Xi said he hopes the city can deepen reforms by focusing on the pilot free trade zone.
The FTZ should be used to trial and test mechanism innovation, he said.
Shanghai should take the lead in creating a convenient, international business environment based on the rule of law, as this will influence a fair, unified and efficient market, he said.
A conducive relationship between the government and the market is influenced by system reform, Xi said, adding that the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation.
The government should step up function restructuring, allowing the market to fully play its role and fulfill its responsibility, he said.
On innovation, Xi urged Shanghai to focus on science and explore core technologies.
The city should make greater efforts to attract leading scientific and technological talents, he said.
Xi also asked Shanghai to speed up industrial restructuring and identify and support new growth points.
He also spoke about China’s innovative, coordinated, green, open and sharing developmental philosophy.
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