{"id":22170,"date":"2019-03-13T15:18:21","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T15:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/13\/maneuvering-to-isolate-taipei-china-fires-rhetorical-broadsides-at-taiwan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:02:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:02:35","slug":"maneuvering-to-isolate-taipei-china-fires-rhetorical-broadsides-at-taiwan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/03\/13\/maneuvering-to-isolate-taipei-china-fires-rhetorical-broadsides-at-taiwan\/","title":{"rendered":"Maneuvering to isolate Taipei, China fires rhetorical broadsides at Taiwan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEIJING \u2014 Attempts to block Beijing\u2019s goal of bringing Taiwan under its control are like \u201cstretching out an arm to block a car,\u201d China said in its latest rhetorical broadside against the self-governing island republic\u2019s independence-minded president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement issued late Tuesday takes aim at Tsai Ing-wen’s recent announcement of measures to counter China’s “one country, two systems” framework for political unification with the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet\u2019s Taiwan Affairs Office<\/a> An Fengshan accused Tsai of harming relations between the sides and using the welfare of the Taiwanese people as a \u201cpoker chip\u201d for the sake of electoral gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such actions “stand in opposition to the interests and welfare of our Taiwan compatriots, and endeavor to block progress by compatriots on both sides to progress,” An said. “All it is, is stretching out an arm to block a car,” he said, using a common Chinese expression to describe a futile action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China says Taiwan is a part of its territory that must be brought under its control by force if necessary, despite the social, political and economic differences developed between them since they separated amid civil war 70 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tsai of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party <\/a>was elected in a 2016 landslide, but has seen her approval ratings fall as she prepares to seek re-election next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a meeting on national security Monday, Tsai said relations with China must be “viewed in a positive way, but only when the principle of equal dignity is safeguarded,” according to the official Central News Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taiwan’s legal and political institutions need strengthening and its military needs bolstering \u2014 including through bigger budgets \u2014 while economic competitiveness needs to be raised and greater outreach make to the international community to counter Beijing’s isolation campaign, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As long as we stay united, national sovereignty, freedom and democracy will not be eroded, and ‘one country, two systems’ will not become the future of Taiwan,” Tsai said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In this March 21, 2017 photo, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, center, along with Defense Minister Feng Shih-kuan, right, and Secretary-General of National Security Council Joseph Wu, left, cheer with navy officers during a visit to Zuoying Naval base in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan. (Chiang Ying-ying\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

China cut off contacts with Tsai\u2019s government shortly after her election and has deployed a carrot-and-stick strategy to undercut her support among the island\u2019s voters. That includes inducements for Taiwanese to live and work in China by offering them local legal status, appealing especially to young creatives and technology workers frustrated by Taiwan\u2019s small market and stagnant wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has backed that up with a drive to poach away Taiwan’s dwindling number of diplomatic allies, leaving it with just 17, blocking its participation in international gatherings and stepping-up its saber rattling through wargames and threatening statements from leading military figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those include president and ruling Communist Party Xi Jinping, who commands the armed forces, and in a January address renewed the threat of military action against the island. He received further endorsement from members of the Beijing-appointed Taiwan delegation to this month\u2019s annual meeting of China\u2019s ceremonial legislature, none of whom come from Taiwan or have any more than tenuous connections to the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xi “will not allow (unification) to be postponed indefinitely,” Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper quoted delegate Cai Peihui as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\t