Sunday, June 21, 2009

The Ultimate Goal

I've repeatedly warned that the Chinese charm offensive does not mean that relations between China and Taiwan are "improving." Peking still wants to own Taiwan despite the kinder words and gentler actions from the mainland. The one-China policy has not been discarded by the Chinese communists, just soft-pedaled.

The Chinese are clear on this point, as the chief of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese State Council, Wang Yi, said in Los Angeles:

He said that during the past year, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have developed their ties under the spirit of "building trust, laying aside disputes, seeking consensus by shelving differences, and creating a win-win situation," which has been widely recognized and accepted by people from both sides.

While mutual trust is the key to and basis for the cross-Straits ties, the core of such mutual trust between the two sides lies in the adherence to the framework of both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan belonging to one China, he said.

Wang noted that the more the cross-Straits ties progress, the deeper the mutual political trust between the two sides should be, thus the relations can stabilize and last long.


The basics of China's policy have remained steady, although my guess on the timing was obviously off.