Beijing rejects ‘Taiwanese independence forces’ and external interference

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks on-screen during a press conference at the end of the National People's Congress on Thursday, May 28, 2020. Photo: AP. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

BEIJING, May 28, 2020, SCMP. China’s annual parliamentary session wrapped up with the passage of a controversial resolution to craft a national security law for Hong Kong, and a pledge to boost the economy which has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, South China Morning Post reported.

The National People’s Congress – which is usually held in March but was delayed because of the pandemic – concluded with an endorsement by lawmakers of Premier Li Keqiang’s government work report which, for the first time, did not set a GDP growth target.

Li said that Beijing’s cross-strait policy would not change, and that the mainland government was open to further exchanges with Taiwan to move forward on “peaceful reunification” with the self-ruled island.

He rejected all “Taiwanese independence forces” and external interference in Taiwan.

He said Beijing remained committed to the 1992 consensus – the political understanding that there is only “one China” but that each side has its own understanding of what this means.

Li’s work report this year did not refer to the 1992 consensus and omitted the word “peaceful” in the phrase “peaceful reunification”, which some feared signalled a more hawkish stance from Beijing on Taiwan.

Last week, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen officially started her second term, after a landslide election win in January that many saw as an endorsement of her harder stand against Beijing.
Li said Beijing would continue to pay high attention to the island, adding that no Taiwanese died from the coronavirus on the mainland.

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