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China’s new foreign minister, Qin Gang, made his first public appearance at the foreign ministers’ press conference of the “Two Sessions” on March 7, emphasizing that the Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in Sino-US relations. The Constitution of the Republic quotes the “Preamble” as saying: “Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the People’s Republic of China. It is the sacred duty of all Chinese people, including Taiwan compatriots, to complete the great cause of reunifying the motherland.”
This move immediately sparked a backlash in public opinion in Taiwan. Some netizens commented, “Whether there is the Republic of China or the People’s Republic of China first”, “The constitution of the Republic of China should have been published earlier”, and questioned that the CCP regime has never ruled since its establishment in 1949. Taiwan, in theory, the civil war is not over, “it is not certain who will rule who”. Some people joked that “it would be better if the Chinese Constitution directly included the United States”, while others pointed out that China and Taiwan are “one country on each side, and they are not subordinate to each other.”
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Yongjian responded that Taiwan has never been part of the People’s Republic of China. This is an objective fact and the status quo. No matter how the Chinese government distorts Taiwan’s claim, it cannot change the fact that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are not affiliated to each other. He reiterated that Taiwan’s sovereignty only belongs to the 23 million Taiwanese people, and only the Taiwanese people have the right to decide Taiwan’s future.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council also stated that “mutual non-affiliation between the two sides of the strait” is the foundation of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and regional peace, and it is not the “one China principle” that the CCP authorities dwarf Taiwan and distort the facts.
Is Beijing’s Taiwan Policy Uncoordinated?
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The picture shows the resumption of the three-way connection in February 2023, and the Quanzhou wharf has written the slogan “One family on both sides of the strait”
Although Qin Gang has shown a tough attitude towards Taiwan since he took office as foreign minister, in fact this kind of “hawkish” behavior does not appear at any time or among any CCP officials. For example, Wang Huning, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, who is in charge of the united front work once morest Taiwan, met with the visiting KMT vice chairman Xia Liyan last month and said that he would “restore the normalization of cross-strait exchanges as soon as possible.” Song Tao took over the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. Since then, she has also been soft and active, actively promoting the “big exchange” between the two sides of the strait.
Song Wendi, a lecturer at the School of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University, commented on BBC Chinese analysis that Qin Gang may be like many new officials who acted tough in order to protect their own political stance, and when he talked regarding the Taiwan issue, he may be speaking to the United States. The work among Taiwan agencies is contradictory, there is still a gap in coordination, and for some relatively young Chinese officials newly appointed following the 20th National Congress, it may take a longer period of adaptation.”
Some media in Taiwan believe that Qin Gang’s move of the “Constitution of the People’s Republic of China” is a “slap in the face” of Wang Huning and Song Tao, and collapses the space opened up by the creative ambiguity established by the “1992 Consensus”.
Huang Jiezheng, director of the International Affairs Department of the Kuomintang and a professor at the Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan, emphasized to BBC Chinese that the “Constitution of the Republic of China” will not disappear just because Qin just held a press conference. Although Beijing’s logic believes that the Republic of China has disappeared. At the same time, insisting on the “1992 Consensus” is a kind of ambiguity. “It is human nature to want to clarify issues, but the relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait lies in the ambiguity of creativity. It is impossible to clarify the relationship. If it is clarified, it will be useless.”
How to interpret soft and hard
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Weng Lvzhong, an associate professor of politics at Sam Houston State University in Texas, pointed out that Qin Gang’s speech was at the level of the foreign minister, responding to US Secretary of State Blinken’s statement that “the Taiwan Strait issue is not China’s internal affairs” and at the same time showed that the Sino-US dialogue is a state-to-state negotiation , but cross-strait dialogue is not. “Qin Gang will not speak out once morest Taiwan. Taiwan is Wang Huning’s business. This attitude is different. It can be seen that China has clearly internalized the Taiwan issue in terms of internal organization. Simply put, Taiwan pays attention to Qin Gang’s hawkish speech, and must understand Qin Gang. The target audience is not Taiwan.”
Zhang Wuyue, director of the Cross-Strait Relations Research Center of Tamkang University in Taiwan, also said that Qin Gang represents the CCP’s foreign-related system, and Wang Huning is the chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, and there is no contradiction between the two. “The CCP’s Taiwan policy has always been to oppose independence and promote reunification. Anti-independence relies on force and diplomacy, while promoting reunification relies on cross-strait exchanges. They are different people with different roles, and what they say is what the CCP talks regarding Taiwan.”
He pointed out that from Beijing’s perspective, the two sides of the Pacific Ocean, the United States and China, are deciding the small two sides of the Taiwan Strait. This is a strategic goal, and the foreign-related system will inevitably express its firm position on the United States. “If you look at Wang Yi’s speeches in the past three years, all foreign ministers’ speeches centered on the United States, while U.S.-China relations centered on the Taiwan issue—then what has changed in Qin Gang’s speeches?”
As for whether Qin Gang’s remarks have narrowed the ambiguous space between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, both scholars believe that there is no need to over-interpret it. Zhang Wuyue pointed out that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are “negotiating without unification” and that Wang Huning is at the national level, which is much higher than Qin Gang. Let’s talk.” Weng Luzhong also said that Wang Huning’s attitude is the key, “as long as he remains moderate, the door of cross-strait dialogue will not be closed.”
The Taiwan Leading Group of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the highest decision-making body of the Communist Party of China to deal with the Taiwan issue. The general secretary of the Communist Party of China serves as the group leader, the chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference serves as the deputy group leader, and the director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee serves as the secretary-general. This means that the three key figures in the future work with Taiwan are Xi Jinping, Wang Huning and Wang Yi.
two constitutions
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Taiwan has always followed the “Constitution of the Republic of China” promulgated in 1946
During Wang Yi’s tenure as foreign minister, he once expressed hope that Taiwan’s new leader, Tsai Ing-wen, would not violate “their own constitution” when the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidential election in February 2016. Taiwan is a country.”
At that time, the outside world interpreted this as an expression of goodwill towards Tsai Ing-wen, because Beijing officials had never mentioned the “Constitution of the Republic of China” before, or used it as the basis for the development of cross-strait relations. Another analysis pointed out that Beijing is using this to limit Taiwan to the framework of “belonging to one China” under the constitution.
The Republic of China was established following the Revolution of 1911 and withdrew from mainland China to Taiwan on December 9, 1949. The “Constitution of the Republic of China” was enacted in 1946. Article 4 stipulates that “the territory of the Republic of China shall not be changed without the resolution of the National Assembly according to its inherent boundaries.”
The relevant provisions did not explicitly list its scope, but its predecessor was the “May Five Constitution Draft” formulated in 1936. The provisions on territory were “the territory of the Republic of China is Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Xikang, Hebei , Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Rehe, Chahar, Suiyuan, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Mongolia, Tibet, etc. “.
Founded in 1949, the People’s Republic of China passed four constitutions in September 1954, January 1975, March 1978 and December 1982. The current constitution is the 1982 version and has been revised five times in 1988, 1993, 1999, 2004 and 2018.
The current part of the “Preamble” of the “Constitution of the People’s Republic of China” that mentions Taiwan only appeared following the 1978 version.