President Tsai called on China in her National Day speech to "acknowledge the existence of the Republic of China," building upon her previous calls for upholding the cross-strait status quo and for talks between Taiwan and China. But some legislators are looking at the remarks as an attempt by Tsai to direct international blame onto China for any further deterioration in the current cross-strait standoff. Two distinct groups of protestors outside the security zone at today’s National Day celebrations reflected the ongoing gridlock in cross-strait relations, one group calling for Taiwan independence while another shouted for unification with China. President Tsai, for her part, used her National Day address to ask China to acknowledge the existence of the Republic of China and sit down for substantive talks.Lo Chih-cheng DPP Legislator The discussion of the ROC is on the one hand due to the fact that it is the ROC’s National Day, and secondly it is a way to indirectly respond to the one China issue.Some legislators read Tsai’s speech as an indication that she would continue to extend an olive branch to China in the face of continuing pressure.Lo Chih-cheng DPP Legislator If Taiwan continues to maintain the current tone and does not engage in excessive provocation or confrontation, then responsibility for the deterioration of cross-strait relations would not fall on Taiwan; instead, the international community would put pressure on Beijing. For now, the next major bellwether for cross-strait relations will be the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru this November, an event for which PFP Chairman James Soong has been tipped to lead the Taiwan delegation.
