TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's ruling party and opposition are now offering voters two competing visions for engaging with Beijing — and the government warned Monday (April 13) that one of them may be illegal. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) dismissed China's 10-point cross-strait package as "the same gift basket sent multiple times," while a cabinet official said the KMT's plans to coordinate directly with mainland authorities could violate Taiwan law.
The sharp response came one day after China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO, 國務院臺灣事務辦公室) announced the measures following KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun's (鄭麗文) meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing. Cheng returned to Taiwan Sunday and announced her party would form a working group to implement the package.
Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑), deputy minister of the Mainland Affairs Council (陸委會), Taiwan's agency handling cross-strait affairs, testified before legislators Monday that only the distant-water fishing provision contained new content. The rest, he said, was "old wine in old bottles" — a phrase suggesting Beijing is repackaging previously announced initiatives rather than offering genuine new concessions.
Liang warned that Cheng's stated goal of "institutionalizing cross-strait peace" may have crossed legal boundaries. The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) prohibits unauthorized political agreements with Beijing. "If the KMT touches the prohibited areas of the cross-strait relations act, the government will take necessary measures," Liang said.
Liang said resumption of Chinese tourism requires bilateral negotiation and cannot be unilaterally decided by Beijing. "China can't just cut it off in 2019 and now say it wants to restore it — it's not that simple," he said, referring to Beijing's suspension of individual tourism to Taiwan that year. Taiwan has requested talks through designated tourism associations, but China has not responded, Liang said.
At the airport upon her return, Cheng framed her visit as "the first successful step" with "99 more steps to follow." She said the measures would benefit Taiwan's youth, farmers, fishermen and tourism operators. "This is our greatest wish — to improve people's lives and let everyone bravely pursue and realize their dreams," Cheng said.
Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said the government supports healthy cross-strait exchanges but only when national security and industry interests are protected. She accused Beijing of treating exchanges as a political tool, "opening and closing access whenever it suits them." Beijing suspended group tourism to Taiwan in 2019 and has blocked various agricultural imports over the years, citing quality concerns that Taipei calls pretextual.
Premier Cho, speaking while receiving a visiting delegation from the Melbourne Taiwanese Association, cited Australia's experience with Chinese trade retaliation. From 2020 to 2024, Beijing banned Australian wine, barley, coal, lobster and other products after Australia sought to investigate COVID-19 origins. "Trade channels were cut off at will," Cho said. "Ask Australia how to respond — that's how Taiwan will respond."
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (民進黨) legislative caucus held a press conference Monday characterizing the measures as a "raise, trap, kill" strategy. Deputy Chief Whip Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said the package is ultimately designed to make Taiwan accept "one country, two systems." Provisions connecting Kinmen to Fujian's infrastructure involve sovereignty and national security, not merely livelihood issues, lawmakers said.
The clash leaves Taiwan's 23 million people caught between two visions: the KMT's promise of "peace dividends" through direct engagement with Beijing, and the DPP's warning that such engagement creates dangerous dependencies. Cheng's working group has no announced composition or mandate. The government has not specified what enforcement measures it might pursue. For now, both sides are watching — and waiting to see which vision Taiwan's voters will reward. ◼
