The spokesman of the Council of Continental Affairs of Taiwan, Liang Wenjie, has accused this Friday the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of taking advantage of the 160th anniversary of the birth of the leader Sun Yat Sen to strengthen the legitimacy of its government and extol the political thought of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Liang made these statements at a press conference in which he detailed the speech delivered by Xi the previous day at an event of the Communist Party. As he indicated, the Chinese leader linked Sun Yat Sen’s “revolutionary” legacy with his own political theses, reiterating his defense of “peaceful reunification” under the “one country, two systems” model and his rejection of Taiwan independence.
The Taiwanese spokesperson, however, said that Xi’s address has not provided any substantial new developments regarding the issue of reunification on both sides of the strait, but that it has mainly pursued two objectives: to present the CCP as a legitimate continuation of Sun Yat Sen’s revolutionary ideals and to highlight the “correctness, greatness and glory” of Xi Jinping’s thought.
Along these lines, Liang emphasized that Xi’s speech includes calls for patriotism, loyalty to the Party, support for the centralized leadership of the CCP Central Committee, and the combination of Marxism with China’s particularities. In his view, these messages show that the anniversary has been used primarily to shore up the regime’s political authority.
As for mentions of Taiwan, he pointed out that the arguments advanced by the Chinese president do not differ substantially from those maintained so far by Beijing.
Liang also stressed that the Communist Party uses the figure of Sun Yat Sen as a symbol of its united front initiatives since the 1950s, so he ruled out that this is a novel tactic. He also clarified that Taiwan authorities do not consider adopting specific measures on the occasion of this anniversary.
Finally, when asked about the presence of Taiwanese politicians, including the head of the New Party, Wu Cheng Tien, at events organized by Beijing, the spokesman said that their attendance at this type of event is customary and that the Government exercises no control over it. “I hope they refrain from doing or saying anything that harms Taiwan’s interests,” he warned.
These statements are made after Xi warned this Thursday that Beijing will "never make room" for any type of separatist activity in favor of "Taiwan independence," reiterating that the "complete reunification of the motherland" is an "unwavering historical mission" that will be achieved in an inevitable way.