June 25, 2024
China recently issued what it referred to as a set of judicial guidelines for imposing criminal punishments on diehard Taiwan independence separatists for conducting or inciting secession (22 points). At a regular press conference on June 24, US Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that the United States strongly condemned China’s escalatory and destabilizing language and actions, adding that the United States urged restraint and that no unilateral changes ought to be made to the status quo. Pointing out that threats and legal warfare would not achieve peaceful resolution to cross-strait differences, Mr. Miller called on China to engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) welcomes and appreciates the United States’ strong condemnation of China’s attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo and undermine regional peace and stability through legal warfare and coercion.
China has recently exploited a variety of opportunities to engage in flagrant legal and cognitive warfare and gray-zone coercion. Its attempts to strangle Taiwan’s democracy and freedom through the aforementioned guidelines, suppress Taiwan’s international space by misrepresenting and erroneously citing United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 over the years, pursue regional expansion, challenge the status quo, and increase its own influence have all elicited significant concern and strong condemnation from the international community.
As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will continue to work hand in hand with the United States and like-minded partners to show China and other authoritarian governments that the international community will not allow them to dictate any red lines. Taiwan and its partners will safeguard the rules-based international order and ensure peace, stability, and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait and throughout the region.
MOFA reaffirms that the people of Taiwan enjoy inalienable freedoms, democracy, and rights as guaranteed by the Constitution. China’s so-called laws and regulations have no binding power over the Taiwanese people. Moreover, China has no right to sanction or pursue the extraterritorial prosecution of Taiwanese people. As President Lai Ching-te has publicly stressed, democracy is not a crime; autocracy is the real evil. Taiwan is willing to engage in cross-strait dialogue and exchanges with a goal of mutual benefits and shared prosperity in mind. It urges China to jointly shoulder the responsibility of upholding peace and enhancing the well-being of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.