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China could sanction Taiwan if unhappy with Tsai's inauguration speech

ROC Central News Agency

2016/03/17 16:54:14

Taipei, March 17 (CNA) China could take three different actions against Taiwan if it is dissatisfied with the May 20 inauguration speech by President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the head of Taiwan's National Security Bureau said Thursday.

The bureau predicted that Beijing will move to shut down existing negotiation channels, prohibit Chinese tourists from visiting Taiwan and take diplomatic actions, if it is unhappy with Tsai's speech, Yang Kuo-chiang (楊國強) told lawmakers during a hearing in the Legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

He was responding to a question by DPP Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) about the impact on the development of relations across the Taiwan Strait if China is not satisfied with Tsai's speech.

The president would have to work with other senior government officials to make a response should China take any of the three actions against Taiwan, Yang said.

There has been widespread anticipation for Tsai's inauguration speech, as it is expected to have influence over how Beijing will deal with China's relations with Taiwan after Tsai takes office.

On Wednesday, Tsai declined to answer questions on whether she will include the Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in her inauguration speech in response to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's (王毅) reference to Taiwan's constitution in a speech delivered in Washington last month.

Answering a question on the impact of Tsai's election as Taiwan's president on Beijing-Taipei relations, Wang said at that time that he hoped 'the person in power in Taiwan will indicate that she wants to pursue peaceful development of cross-Taiwan Strait relations and that she will accept the provision in their constitution that the mainland and Taiwan belong to one and the same China.'

'She is elected on the basis of their current constitution, which still recognizes the mainland and Taiwan as one, the same China,' Wang said.

During her campaign, Tsai pledged that if elected president, she would continue to promote cross-Taiwan Strait peace and stability under the current ROC Constitution.

(By Lu Hsin-hui and Elaine Hou)
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