Message to Compatriots in Taiwan
The Message to Compatriots in Taiwan (Chinese: 告台湾同胞书; pinyin: Gào Táiwān Tóngbāo Shū) is an open letter issued to Taiwan by the government, democratic parties, the National People's Congress and other organizations after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It is regarded as the earliest policy document of the Chinese Communist Party and the government of the People's Republic of China on cross-strait relations. It has been issued six times in history. Among them, the most famous one was issued by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on January 1, 1979, the day when China and the United States established diplomatic relations. Its influence continues to this day. Its content mainly discussed ending the military confrontation between the two sides of the strait, and proposed the "three links" across the strait to expand cross-strait exchanges.
History
[edit]The Message to Compatriots in Taiwan was first published on February 28, 1950 by the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League, proposing to complete the task of liberating Taiwan.[1]
The second publication was on October 6, 1958, the day after the end of the August 23rd Artillery Battle. It was written by Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and later published by Peng Dehuai, Minister of National Defense. Its full title is Letter from the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China to Compatriots in Taiwan. Its content requires Taiwan to jointly deal with imperialism led by the United States, and refers to the August 23rd Artillery Battle as a punishment in nature and notifies in advance to stop shelling Kinmen for seven days.[1]
The third letter was published on October 25, 1958, namely, Another Letter from the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China to Compatriots in Taiwan, which asked Taiwan to unite and that there was no way out for an alliance with the United States, and that they should unite to face the outside world.[1]
The fourth was published on November 1, 1958, namely, The Third Message to Taiwan Compatriots from the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China, but it was never published.[2]
The fifth publication was on January 1, 1979. The Message to Compatriots in Taiwan was published by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress chaired by Ye Jianying. At the same time, China's Minister of Defense Xu Xiangqian issued a statement on stopping the shelling of the Kinmen Islands since 1958. The content of the statement was to propose to Taiwan that the unification of China was the general trend and the will of the people, and that the split situation should be ended as soon as possible and China should be unified. In this regard, it also proposed the policy of ending the military confrontation between the two sides of the strait, opening up the "three links across the strait", and expanding cross-strait exchanges. This publication caused a major reaction at home and abroad and was regarded as the first change in the mainland China's Taiwan policy.[1]
Although leaders of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic of China would express their positions on Taiwan afterwards, they never used the name Message to Compatriots in Taiwan again.[1]
It was not until January 2, 2019 that Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, once again issued a Message to Compatriots in Taiwan, establishing Xi's Five Points to replace the previous Jiang's Eight Points and Hu's Six Points and other major policies toward Taiwan.[3]
Commemoration
[edit]10th anniversary
[edit]On December 30, 1988, a symposium was held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the publication of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan. Wu Xueqian, Vice Premier of the State Council and Deputy Director of the Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, delivered a speech entitled "China Must Be Unified, the Country Should Not Be Split".[4][5]
20th anniversary
[edit]On January 28, 1999, a symposium was held to mark the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan. Qian Qichen, Vice Premier and Deputy Director of the Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, delivered a speech entitled "Striving Hard to Promote the Great Cause of Peaceful Reunification of the Motherland".[6] The symposium also commemorated the 4th anniversary of the publication of Jiang's Eight Points.[5][7]
30th anniversary
[edit]On the morning of December 31, 2008, a symposium commemorating the 30th anniversary of the publication of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao delivered a speech entitled "Join Hands to Promote the Peaceful Development of Cross-Strait Relations and Work Together to Realize the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation."[8] The cross-strait policy he proposed is known as "Hu's Six Points."[5]
40th anniversary
[edit]On the morning of January 2, 2019, a commemoration meeting for the 40th anniversary of the publication of theMessage to Compatriots in Taiwan was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a speech entitled "Working Together to Achieve the Great Rejuvenation of the Nation and Promote the Peaceful Reunification of the Motherland" (Xi's Five Points), setting the tone of the 1992 Consensus as "both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China and work together to seek national reunification", achieving the goal of "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems", and deepening cross-strait exchanges to achieve spiritual harmony between compatriots.[9][10] However, he did not promise to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, and reserved the option of taking all necessary measures to unify Taiwan.[3]
In early 2019, China Central Television launched a special historical documentary, "Taiwan Strait Chronicles". It is worth noting that former KMT Chairman Eric Chu, who had previously announced his participation in the 2020 presidential election, also appeared in the documentary and talked about the 1992 Consensus. Eric Chu appeared in the fourth episode and said that the 1992 Consensus was an important foundation and an important milestone, "because it was from the '1992 Consensus' that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait could communicate and move towards peace." Taiwanese politicians invited other former KMT chairmen Lien Chan, Wu Po-hsiung, Hung Hsiu-chu, etc.[11]
President Tsai Ing-wen of the Republic of China stated that the Republic of China did not reach the 1992 Consensus with the mainland in 1993, and will never accept "one country, two systems ". She also criticized Xi Jinping for interpreting the 1992 Consensus as "one China, one country, two systems". Tsai Ing-wen also believed that the Beijing authorities' pressure on international companies and military aircraft and warships to fly around Taiwan would not bring spiritual harmony to Taiwan. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China issued a press release criticizing Tsai Ing-wen after her speech.[12] Spokesperson Ma Xiaoguang said, "The leader of the Democratic Progressive Party authorities, Tsai Ing-wen, made irresponsible remarks and blatantly vented her separatist position of the 'two-state theory', which violated the wishes of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to improve and develop cross-strait relations, further incited cross-strait confrontation, and undermined the peaceful development of cross-strait relations." This is the first time that the Taiwan Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council have characterized the Taiwan independence stance of the Tsai Ing-wen authorities in Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen took office in May 2016.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "【历史渊源】历次告台湾同胞书全文_人民". www.sohu.com. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "毛泽东: 中华人民共和国国防部三告台湾同胞书(一九五八年十一月)". www.yhcw.net. Archived from the original on 2007-10-29. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
- ^ a b "习近平称不承诺对台湾放弃使用武力". Archived from the original on 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
- ^ "吴学谦：中国必须统一，国家不应分裂". 十三大以来重要文献选编上. 1988-12-30. Archived from the original on 2021-10-10.
- ^ a b c "新闻资料：纪念《告台湾同胞书》发表的历次重要活动". 中国新闻网. 2019-01-01. Archived from the original on 2021-07-22.
- ^ "为推动祖国和平统一大业而努力奋斗". 中共中央台湾工作办公室、国务院台湾事务办公室. Archived from the original on 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
- ^ "为促进祖国统一大业的完成而继续奋斗". 中国外交部. 1995-01-30. Archived from the original on 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
- ^ "胡锦涛：携手推动两岸关系和平发展 同心实现中华民族伟大复兴(12/31/08)".
- ^ "习近平：为实现民族伟大复兴 推进祖国和平统一而共同奋斗——在《告台湾同胞书》发表40周年纪念会上的讲话". 新华社. 2019-01-02. Archived from the original on 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
- ^ "《告台湾同胞书》发表40周年纪念会在京隆重举行 习近平出席纪念会并发表重要讲话". 新华网. 2019-01-02. Archived from the original on 2019-01-03. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
- ^ 《告台灣同胞書》40周年 朱立倫現身央視紀錄片談「九二共識」 Archived 2021-01-04 at the Wayback Machine ETtoday 2019.1.1
- ^ "回应习五条 蔡英文：拒绝九二共识 不接受一国两制". Archived from the original on 2019-01-03. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
- ^ 储玲娟. "蔡英文首次被国台办点名"大放厥词" 透露什么信号?". 建德新闻网 (in Chinese (China)). 建德. Archived from the original on 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
