Officials defend Taiwan's national sovereignty
ROC Central News Agency
2016/10/27 21:29:14
Taipei, Oct. 27 (CNA) Taiwan's high-ranking officials in charge of China affairs expressed regret and discontent on Thursday after a Chinese official stated a day earlier that Taiwan has never been a country.
At a regular press conference on Wednesday, An Fengshan, a spokesman for China's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said Taiwan is an indispensable part of China and has never been a country.
An made the remarks in response to a question concerning a Taiwanese official's recent remarks that ties across the Taiwan Strait are special state-to-state relations.
China considers Taiwan a part of its territory, to be reunited by force if necessary.
But Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Minister Chang Hsiao-yueh (張小月) on Thursday said An's comments were inappropriate.
"We are absolutely an independent sovereign nation," Chang said during a legislative session, adding that the nation's title is the Republic of China although it is better known as Taiwan in the international community.
Later that day, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) also called a news conference and issued a press release to express Taiwan's regret over the matter.
Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正), vice minister and spokesman of the MAC, said that the ROC is an independent sovereign state and has its own constitution and national leader elected by its people.
China's unilateral statement will not change the fact that the ROC is a sovereign state but will only hurt the feelings of Taiwan's 23 million people and harm the peaceful and stable development of cross-strait relations, Chiu added.
Chiu also called on the two sides across the strait to settle disagreements through communication and dialogue, which he said would help foster benevolent interactions and develop the relationship between the two sides.
(By Wen Kuei-hsiang, Chen Chia-lun and Evelyn Kao)
Enditem/cs
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
