Taiwan Rejects China’s One Country-Two Systems Plan for the Island

“Only the people of Taiwan can decide their own future,” said the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman. She said Beijing is using Pelosi’s visit to the island as a “pretext to destroy the status quo”. Taiwan rejects the One Country/Two Systems model that Beijing proposes as a basis for peaceful reunification. The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said this at a press conference in Taipei on Thursday, Aug. 11. “Only the people of Taiwan can decide their own future,” she stressed. Beijing’s proposed One Country/Two Systems model has been applied to Hong Kong and Macau, which have been promised a special administrative status with extensive autonomy after coming under Chinese jurisdiction. Taiwan’s army held another live-fire exercise on Thursday, after China officially ended its massive military exercises around the island, announced because of a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. A Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said China was using Pelosi’s visit “as a pretext to disrupt the status quo,” trying to “create a new norm to intimidate the Taiwanese people.” Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan Nancy Pelosi flew in for a one-day visit to Taiwan on August 2. She became the first US House speaker in 25 years to visit the island, whose independence Beijing does not recognize and considers one of China’s provinces. The White House and Pelosi herself emphasized that the visit to Taiwan, whose independence Washington does not recognize either, does not mean a change in the US position. Official Beijing, however, harshly criticized the visit, and after Pelosi’s departure, the Chinese army began previously announced air and sea military exercises in the island area. Taiwan’s defense ministry called the Chinese maneuvers highly provocative and announced the deployment of ground missile systems. Beijing partially suspended trade with Taiwan as a result of Pelosi’s visit. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also announced the suspension of cooperation with the US on a number of issues, including climate change. China imposed sanctions on Pelosi and her family members, saying that she “interfered in China’s internal affairs” and violated the “territorial integrity of the country”. DW