Category: TAO Statements

Taiwan Affairs Office: Taiwan compatriots strongly support cross-Strait integrated development.

At the April 1 press conference of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, a reporter asked: “Lai Ching-te recently said that Taiwan has already been integrated into a U.S.-led ‘non-red supply chain’ and that this will ensure Taiwan’s competitive advantage in the future. Public opinion on the island, however, holds that Taiwan should deeply integrate into the mainland’s robotics industrial chain in areas such as semiconductors in order to seize the opportunities of the times. More and more people in Taiwan have come to realize that embracing the mainland is the only viable option, and that ‘opposing China and resisting China’ will only cause Taiwan to fall further behind. What is your comment on this?”

In response, Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhang Han said that the DPP authorities’ claim of building a so-called “non-red supply chain” is nothing more than handing over Taiwan’s industries to others in service of their scheme of “relying on external forces to pursue independence.” Cross-Strait economic and trade cooperation, she said, is mutually beneficial and has brought tangible benefits to people in Taiwan, and more and more people in Taiwan have come to see the convenience and opportunities brought by integrated cross-Strait development.

She said that this year marks the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan. During the period of the 15th Five-Year Plan, “we will promote the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, break new ground in optimizing and upgrading traditional industries, fostering and expanding emerging industries, and laying out future industries in advance.” This, she said, will surely open broader space for cross-Strait industrial cooperation and provide more opportunities for Taiwan compatriots and Taiwan businesses.

She added that “we have always upheld the concept that ‘people on both sides of the Strait are one family,’ deepened cross-Strait exchanges, cooperation, and integrated development, and enabled compatriots on both sides to share in the achievements and opportunities of Chinese-style modernization.” She also said that Taiwan compatriots are welcome to participate in the mainland’s high-quality development and jointly strengthen the economy of the Chinese nation.

Taiwan Affairs Office: The 15th Five-Year Plan will open broader space for cross-Strait industrial cooperation.

Taiwan Affairs Office: The DPP authorities lack both the will and the ability to address the livelihood crisis.

At the April 1 press conference of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, a reporter asked: “Taiwan media have reported that, due to the impact of the fighting in the Middle East, Taiwan’s oil supply has become tight, which has in turn affected the plastics raw materials market, leading to a recent wave of panic buying of plastic products on the island. There may also be a future wave of medicine shortages. Public opinion in Taiwan has pointed out that, when faced with these difficulties, the DPP authorities do nothing but say that ‘oil and gas supplies are sufficient,’ and are always a step slow in responding to crises. What is your comment on this?”

In response, Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhang Han said that the DPP authorities’ claim that “oil and gas supplies are sufficient” is nothing more than self-comfort for their inability to ensure such supplies, and also amounts to misleading and deceiving the public. The DPP authorities lack both the will and the ability to respond to livelihood crises on the island and do nothing but evade responsibility. All sectors of Taiwanese society, she said, are already deeply dissatisfied with this.

She added that after peaceful reunification, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait would achieve full connectivity and integration, and the mainland’s complete industrial system and stable market supply capacity would become the strongest support for people in Taiwan, fully compensating for Taiwan’s shortages in crude oil, natural gas, industrial raw materials, and other areas. No matter how turbulent the external situation may be, she said, the mainland would be able to provide timely guarantees for Taiwan’s energy and resource security and for industrial production supplies, so that people in Taiwan would no longer need to worry about shortages of energy and other materials.

Taiwan Affairs Office: Japan must not condone any Taiwan-related provocations or troublemaking.

At the April 1 press conference of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, a reporter asked: “In response to the egregious Taiwan-related actions of Japanese House of Representatives member Keiji Furuya, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently announced countermeasures against him. Japan has said China’s countermeasures are ‘regrettable.’ What is your comment on this?”

In response, Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhang Han said: “I want to emphasize once again that the Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests and a red line that must not be crossed. Keiji Furuya has openly interfered in China’s internal affairs on the Taiwan issue and seriously infringed upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The countermeasures taken by China in response are reasonable and lawful. Japan should deeply reflect on history, learn its lessons, and earnestly correct its errors. It must abide by the One China principle and the spirit of the four China-Japan political documents, and must not allow any person or any force to engage in provocation or troublemaking on the Taiwan issue.”

Taiwan Affairs Office: Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait jointly honor their ancestors during Qingming.

At the April 1 press conference of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, a reporter asked: “Paying respects to one’s ancestors during Qingming is a traditional Chinese practice shared by compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Could you introduce the relevant activities this year during the Qingming period in which people from both sides of the Strait will jointly honor their ancestors across the mainland?”

In response, Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhang Han said that the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan is the cultural progenitor of the Chinese nation. Each year during Qingming, the public sacrificial ceremony for the Yellow Emperor held at the Yellow Emperor Mausoleum is a traditional grand occasion for all Chinese sons and daughters to trace their roots and strengthen their shared spirit. On April 5, the 2026 Qingming Public Ceremony in Honor of the Yellow Emperor, Year Bingwu, jointly organized by the Shaanxi Provincial People’s Government, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, and the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, will be solemnly held at the Yellow Emperor Mausoleum in Huangling County, Yan’an, Shaanxi Province. This year’s ceremony will include nine ritual components, including singing the Ode to the Yellow Emperor, a formal reading of the sacrificial text, and ritual music and dance offerings. During the commemorative activities, several additional events will also be held, including “Enduring Cultural Lineage and the Road to Rejuvenation” — Root-Seeking in Huangling, and “One Root Across the Land, One Shared Lineage Across the Strait” — the 19th Cross-Strait Cultural and Arts Exhibition.

From March 31 to April 5, the 2026 Cross-Strait Confucius Cultural Spring Gathering will be held in Qufu, Shandong. The event will include a cross-Strait education forum, a joint youth ceremony honoring Confucius, a cross-Strait ritual music carnival and coming-of-age ceremony at the Temple of Confucius, a Taiwan youth study camp on Confucianism titled “Entering Confucius,” cross-Strait youth Hanfu cultural exchange activities, and a cross-Strait Analects reading and writing competition. More than 900 guests from Taiwan have been invited to attend.

From April 2 to 4, the 10th King of Kaizhang Cultural Festival will be held in Yunxiao, Zhangzhou, Fujian. Centered on the cultural theme “Great Fortune in Opening Zhangzhou, Kinship Rooted Across the Seas,” this year’s festival has invited more than 200 Taiwan compatriots, along with descendants of the 87 surnames associated with the founding of Zhangzhou and fellow townspeople from around the world, to witness the grand festivities together and experience kinship ties and cultural resonance that transcend geography. From April 4 to 5, the Luo Clan Ancestral Hall in Dongyuan, Quanzhou, and the Guo Clan Ancestral Temple in Baiqi will also invite relatives from Taiwan to jointly hold ancestral worship activities.

Taiwan Affairs Office: The spirit of the martyrs inspires later generations

At the April 1 press conference of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, a reporter asked: “According to reports, after many years of joint efforts by both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the ashes of several individuals who died while serving on the covert front in Taiwan have, before this year’s Qingming Festival, been returned to the mainland, allowing their souls to return to their hometowns. What is your comment on this?”

In response, Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhang Han said that Qingming Festival is a traditional holiday of the Chinese nation for honoring the dead and remembering ancestors. History should be remembered, martyrs commemorated, and the future enlightened. The heroic deeds of these patriots and men of conviction will not be forgotten by the people, nor by history. Their ideals, convictions, and strength of will will surely inspire compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to strive unremittingly for the early completion of the great cause of national reunification and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Taiwan Affairs Office: Peaceful reunification will be the starting point for a complete renewal of Taiwan’s infrastructure.

At the March 25 Taiwan Affairs Office press conference, a reporter asked: Recently, a Taiwanese civic group visited the Xiamen section of the Xiamen–Kinmen Bridge and the construction site of Xiamen Xiang’an Airport, praising the rapid progress of both projects and expressing amazement at the mainland’s infrastructure capabilities. We also noted that in October last year, the mainland said that after unification Taiwan would enjoy “seven areas of improvement,” including that “after peaceful reunification, with the strong motherland as its backing, Taiwan’s infrastructure development will be better.” Could the spokesperson elaborate on this?

Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian responded that, at last week’s press conference, they had already explained the point among the “seven areas of improvement” concerning how “energy and resource security will be better,” which drew a high degree of attention from public opinion on both sides of the Strait. Today, in response to public interest, they would further explain why infrastructure development in Taiwan would be “better” after unification.

Zhu said that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the mainland’s major infrastructure continued to upgrade, and its overall scale ranks first in the world. The total length of its comprehensive transportation network exceeds 6 million kilometers, including 5.49 million kilometers of highways and more than 165,000 kilometers of railways. High-speed rail totals 50,400 kilometers and covers 97 percent of cities with urban populations over 500,000. The aviation network covers 92.6 percent of prefecture-level cities. Transmission lines of 220 kilovolts and above stretch nearly 960,000 kilometers, oil and gas pipeline networks exceed 190,000 kilometers, and reservoir capacity surpasses 1 trillion cubic meters, forming what she described as an ultra-large-scale network advantage.

Zhu added that the mainland’s capacity for scientific and technological innovation has increased substantially. It has continued to make breakthroughs in such areas as long-span bridges, large-scale water conservancy projects, and next-generation mobile communications, producing a large number of core technologies with independent intellectual property rights. She said many “mega-projects” have amazed the world.

She further stated that international connectivity has also expanded, with China-Europe freight trains and the “Silk Road Maritime” network reaching cities and ports in dozens of countries and regions, while projects such as the China-Laos Railway and the Jakarta–Bandung High-Speed Railway have been completed and entered operation. She said that Sun Yat-sen’s grand blueprint in The International Development of China had long since been realized, and that many of these achievements far exceeded even Sun’s own vision.

Zhu said that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the mainland will accelerate the building of a modern infrastructure system to provide strong support for national strength and national rejuvenation. Of the 109 major engineering projects in the 15th Five-Year Plan, 23 are directly related to infrastructure. These projects will not only further improve transportation, water conservancy, and energy infrastructure, but also strengthen major science and technology infrastructure, information and communications networks, and computing power networks.

Zhu then said that after unification, the mainland’s strong infrastructure-building capacity would provide powerful support for the renewal and upgrading of Taiwan’s infrastructure. Infrastructure in transportation, energy, agriculture and forestry, water conservancy, and urban renewal in Taiwan would be rebuilt and upgraded, and the lives of Taiwan compatriots would become more convenient as a result. For example, she said, they could help quickly complete a round-island high-speed railway and build more expressways linking Taiwan’s western and eastern regions. Cross-Strait infrastructure connectivity would also gradually become a reality. As one example, she said both sides could jointly build the long-discussed cross-Strait transport corridor, turning a “natural barrier into a thoroughfare,” so that people in Taiwan could one day drive from the island to Beijing via the Beijing–Taipei Expressway.

In conclusion, Zhu said that peaceful reunification would mark the beginning of a complete renewal of Taiwan’s infrastructure, including new infrastructure. She said she hopes Taiwan compatriots will pursue peaceful reunification just as they pursue happiness in life, so that the place where they work and live can become smoother, more convenient, and better.

Taiwan Affairs Office: Resolving the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people themselves and does not permit any external interference.

At the March 25 Taiwan Affairs Office press conference, a reporter asked: Recently, a U.S. intelligence community assessment concluded that China does not currently plan to “use force to attack Taiwan” by 2027, and is more inclined to use non-military options to achieve unification, while at the same time continuing to strengthen the PLA’s preparations for the use of force and viewing unification as an important condition for achieving national rejuvenation by 2049. What is your comment on this?

Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian responded that Taiwan is China’s Taiwan. Resolving the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people themselves and does not permit any external interference. She said the U.S. side should abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, and act cautiously in both word and deed on the Taiwan issue.

Zhu said that “peaceful reunification, one country, two systems” is the basic policy for resolving the Taiwan issue, and that resolving the Taiwan issue and completing national reunification are inevitable requirements for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. She said they are willing to create broad space for peaceful reunification and, with the utmost sincerity and greatest effort, strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification. At the same time, she said, they will never allow national sovereignty and territorial integrity to be damaged, will never promise to renounce the use of force, and reserve the option of taking all necessary measures.

Zhu added that the root cause of the current complex and severe situation in the Taiwan Strait is that the DPP authorities, in collusion with external forces, continue to engage in provocations aimed at seeking “independence.” She said this will never be tolerated or condoned, and that they have the firm will, full confidence, and sufficient capability to thwart any form of “Taiwan independence” separatist plot, safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and unswervingly advance the great cause of national reunification.

Taiwan Affairs Office: Lai Ching-te’s whitewashing of Japanese colonial rule once again exposes his pro-Japan, sellout-of-Taiwan posture and the provocative nature of his pursuit of ‘independence.

At the March 25 Taiwan Affairs Office press conference, a reporter asked: Lai Ching-te recently made remarks praising the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” and portraying Japan’s colonial rule in Taiwan in a favorable light, triggering strong reaction in Taiwan’s public opinion. Experts and scholars on the island have listed atrocities committed by Japanese colonial authorities in Taiwan, including massacres and suppression campaigns, and criticized the Lai administration for distorting history, fawning over Japan, romanticizing colonialism, and creating hatred and division for the sake of party and personal interests. What is your comment on this?

Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian responded that it is well known that during the half century in which Japan occupied and colonially ruled Taiwan, it brutally suppressed the resistance of Taiwan compatriots, plundered Taiwan’s resources through policies such as “Taiwan for agriculture, Japan for industry,” and forcibly promoted the so-called “kominka” movement in an attempt to alter the national and ethnic identity of Taiwan’s people. She said these crimes were numerous and impossible to fully enumerate, brought profound disaster to the people of Taiwan, and marked the darkest page in Taiwan’s history. She added that large numbers of Taiwan compatriots fought one after another against Japanese invasion and colonial rule, and that hundreds of thousands paid with their blood and lives.

Zhu said that Lai Ching-te, in disregard of historical facts, has gone out of his way to whitewash and glorify Japanese colonial rule, which she described as a distortion of history, a desecration of the martyrs, and a betrayal of the nation. She said this once again exposes what she called his ugly essence of “fawning over Japan and selling out Taiwan” and his provocative pursuit of “independence.”

Zhu further stated that they will never allow anyone to defend colonialism or overturn the verdict on aggression, and will never allow certain external forces to intervene in the Taiwan issue or interfere in China’s internal affairs. She said compatriots on both sides of the Strait should forever remember the glorious history in which all Chinese people made enormous sacrifices to defeat brutal Japanese militarism and defended national sovereignty and dignity with their blood and lives. She called on both sides to firmly oppose “Taiwan independence” separatism and external interference, work together to advance the process of national reunification, and jointly create a bright future of national rejuvenation.

Taiwan Affairs Office: What lies between the two sides of the Strait is absolutely not a struggle between systems, but a struggle between unification and separatism.

At the March 25 Taiwan Affairs Office press conference, a reporter asked: Regarding the mainland’s formulation of a law to promote ethnic unity and progress, Straits Exchange Foundation Secretary-General Lo Wen-chia said that the issue between the two sides of the Strait is a matter of “democracy,” that ethnicity is an issue of the past, while democracy is the issue of the present and the future, and that he hopes China will one day pass laws related to promoting democracy in China. What is your comment on this?

Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian responded that compatriots on both sides of the Strait all belong to the Chinese nation and are all Chinese people. The natural bonds of affection and ethnic identity between them, rooted in shared blood and mutual support, cannot be changed by anyone. Taiwan’s future lies in national unification, and the well-being of Taiwan compatriots is tied to national rejuvenation.

Zhu said that recently the DPP authorities have continuously made irresponsible remarks about the law to promote ethnic unity and progress, spreading rumors and smearing it. Their purpose, she said, is to incite confrontation and antagonism across the Strait and create a “chilling effect” on the island. The issue between the two sides of the Strait, she said, is absolutely not a contest between political systems, but a struggle between unification and separatism. For the sake of its own one-party interests, she said, the DPP authorities, under the guise of “democracy,” have engaged in “green terror” and “Taiwan independence authoritarianism” on the island, abused the judiciary to suppress and persecute political opponents, and repeatedly trampled on democracy, obstructed freedom, and damaged the rule of law. She asked how they could possibly have the standing to speak about “democracy.”

Zhu added that the founding purpose of the Straits Exchange Foundation is to be “Chinese, benevolent, and service-oriented.” She said she hopes it will not forget that purpose, engage in less malicious political manipulation, and do more that benefits the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and improves the welfare of people on both sides of the Strait.