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Taiwanese groups criticize Chinese claims made at Anchorage summit

‘Taiwan is not part of China’: Local groups

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Local Taiwanese groups oppose China's claims regarding Taiwan.

Local Taiwanese groups oppose China's claims regarding Taiwan. (Taiwan News photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Multiple Taiwanese groups held a press conference on Monday (March 29) to debunk the rhetoric of Chinese officials at the recent U.S.- China diplomatic talk held in Alaska.

In the meeting on March 18, Director of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) Central Foreign Affairs Commission Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪) claimed that Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang are inseparable parts of China, and that the Chinese government firmly opposed what it considers U.S. interference in its internal affairs.

For Hsu Wen-tang (許文堂), this argument does not hold water, as Taiwan was not a part of the China the CCP established with the founding of its government on Oct. 1, 1949.

"The CCP's 'one China' principle is different from the U.S.'s 'one China' policy. The U.S. government has never agreed on the unilateral statement made by China that Taiwan belongs to it," said Hsu.

Some believe Taiwan only belonged to China during the Qing Dynasty, when the Manchu rulers reigned over the empire. Taiwan was later lost to Japan and no longer under China's control when the Republic of China overthrew the Qing in 1912. Taiwan remained outside the clutches of the CCP after it took control of China in 1949.

"In the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the CCP guaranteed Hong Kong judicial independence and freedom under 'one country, two systems' for at least 50 years, but after only two decades, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has already confirmed that the declaration is just a historical document that does not mean anything," said Maysing Yang (楊黃美幸), chairperson of the Asia-Pacific Liberal Women Association.

"How can a county that does not respect international rules keep telling others to follow its 'one China' principle?" she argued.

Director of Taiwan Society North Li Chuan Hsin (李川信) believes it is precisely because the CCP cannot find solid proof to back up its arguments that it tries to brainwash the international community with endless repetitions of the claim that Taiwan is part of China.

"Taiwanese people have the right to decide their own future, and we have been doing it for a long time," Li said.

Taiwanese groups criticize Chinese claims made at Anchorage summit
(Taiwan News photo)