At the April 15 State Council Taiwan Affairs Office press conference, a reporter asked about KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun’s recent visit to mainland China. AIT Taipei Office Director Raymond Greene had said that the United States’ consistent position is to support stable cross-Strait exchanges, that it hopes the mainland will maintain channels of communication with all political parties in Taiwan—especially the “democratically elected government”—and that it hopes the mainland will abandon “threats or military pressure” against Taiwan.
In response, TAO spokesperson Chen Binhua stated that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China. As long as they recognize the “1992 Consensus” and oppose “Taiwan independence,” there are no obstacles to exchanges between any political party or group in Taiwan and the mainland.
Chen said the root cause of tensions and instability in the Taiwan Strait is the DPP authorities’ collusion with external forces in continuously seeking “independence” and making provocations. He said certain people on the U.S. side are “jumping up and down,” repeatedly hyping the so-called “mainland threat or military pressure,” which he described as “completely reversing black and white” and as having “malicious intentions.” He emphasized that the Taiwan issue is China’s internal affair and “does not permit outsiders to comment/interfere.” He said the U.S. should abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, and handle the Taiwan issue with the utmost caution.