Beijing Rejects Taiwan's Conciliatory Moves on "One China" Principle

Beijing and Taipei's decades-old dispute over the "One China" principle has reached a new impasse, with the Chinese government accusing President Chen Shui-bian of insincerity and rejecting his attempts to narrow the semantic gap. The current standoff stems from Mr. Chen's willingness to accept a "One China" policy on terms upheld by Taiwan's previous administration, while continuing to reject Beijing's characterization of Taiwan as a province of the People's Republic of China. This move brought Taiwan closer to meeting mainland demands for allegiance to the principle before resuming stalled talks across the Taiwan Strait. However, Beijing's Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Zhu Bangzao, dismissed Mr. Chen's offer, accusing Taiwan of pushing separate interpretations as a pretext to maintain its independence.

Key Takeaways:

• Chen Shui-bian's statement on embracing a "One China" policy on terms upheld by Taiwan's previous administration brought him closer to meeting mainland demands for allegiance to the principle.
• Zhu Bangzao, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, rejected Mr. Chen's offer, citing that Taiwan's description of the 1992 consensus as allowing separate interpretations does not conform to actual conditions.
• Beijing expects President Chen to do much more to ease its suspicions about Taiwan's de facto autonomy, including accepting the "One China" principle unequivocally and acknowledging Taiwan as Chinese.
• Analysts in Taipei consider Beijing's demands for unconditional acceptance of the "One China" principle to be politically almost impossible for Mr. Chen to accept.
• The current standoff revolves around the proper interpretation of the 1992 consensus on the "One China" principle, with Beijing insisting on a single, unambiguous understanding.
• Taipei has consistently rejected Beijing's characterization of Taiwan as a province of the People's Republic of China.

Statistics:

• 1992: The year when both sides disagreed on the interpretation of the "One China" principle, with Taiwan attributing it to allowing separate understandings and Beijing insisting on a unified stance.
• 1: The number of times Mr. Chen explicitly expressed his willingness to accept a "One China" policy on terms upheld by Taiwan's previous administration.
• 0: The number of times Beijing has unconditionally accepted Taiwan's separate interpretation of the "One China" principle.

Sources:

• "Beijing rejects Taiwan's move on 'One China'", FT.com, no date given.
• ""We have put forward our demands very clearly," said Zhu Bangzao.", BBC News, no date given.