"Freedom Day Shoot" The CCP commemorates Sun Yat-sen's birthday. Xi calls for reunification. Mainland Affairs Council: The CCP should face up to the fact that the Republic of China is unshakable.

Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping delivered a speech to Taiwan yesterday at the "Commemorating the 160th Anniversary of the Birth of Sun Yat-sen", reaffirming the proposition of "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems" and claiming that "the reunification of the motherland" will inevitably be realized. The Mainland Affairs Council emphasized that if the Chinese Communist Party sincerely commemorates Dr. Sun Yat-sen, it should face up to the objective fact that the Republic of China founded by Sun Yat-sen is still standing, and strive to implement Sun Yat-sen's lifelong efforts to pursue democracy and civil rights. Scholars criticized that Sun Yat-sen overthrew the monarchy, but Xi Jinping returned to the monarchy. The best way to commemorate Sun Yat-sen is to return power to the people.

China has never ruled Taiwan and has no right to interfere with Taiwan’s development direction.

The Mainland Affairs Council stated that the Republic of China is a sovereign state co-founded by Dr. Sun Yat-sen and countless revolutionary martyrs. It has never been interrupted for a day and is not affiliated with the People's Republic of China. This is an indisputable fact. The liberal and democratic Republic of China has been deeply involved in Taiwan, Pengjin and Horses, and is on a different national development path from the autocratic and centralized People's Republic of China. The People's Republic of China has never ruled Taiwan for a day, and has no right to impose Taiwan's so-called "unification" obligations, let alone interfere with Taiwan's development direction.

The Mainland Affairs Council pointed out that the fundamental issue between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait lies in the major differences between democracy and freedom and totalitarian autocracy. The so-called "one country, two systems" is ultimately the authoritarian rule of the Chinese Communist Party. Taiwan's mainstream public opinion has firmly rejected it, and the government cannot accept it. Taiwan's future should be decided by all the 23 million people of Taiwan under the constitutional system of the Republic of China, and never by a dictatorship.

Liang Wenjie, spokesperson of the Mainland Affairs Council, said at a regular press conference that Xi Jinping’s speech mainly contained two points: First, he declared that the CCP is the orthodox heir to Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary ideas and established the legitimacy of the CCP’s rule. The other part is to commemorate Sun Yat-sen and reaffirm that "Xi Jinping Thought" is correct, great and glorious. For the part about reunifying Taiwan, the wording is not much different from the past.

Scholar: Sun Yat-sen overthrew the monarchy, but Xi Jinping returned to the monarchy

Hong Puzhao, director of the Global Strategy and Democratic Resilience Research Center at Taipei City University, said in an interview that Xi Jinping’s high-profile commemoration of the 160th anniversary of Sun Yat-sen’s birth is a carefully arranged historical narrative. The Chinese Communist Party’s reinterpretation of Sun Yat-sen’s thoughts is fundamentally inconsistent with the civil rights spirit advocated by Sun Yat-sen.

Hong Puzhao pointed out that Sun Yat-sen overthrew the monarchy and established a republic. He proposed the Three Principles of the Nation, Civil Rights and People's Livelihood, and advocated that sovereignty lies with the people and makes the people the masters of the country. However, Xi Jinping has deliberately downplayed the spirit of civil rights, combining patriotism with love for the party and love for socialism. He has also amended the constitution to remove the limit of two consecutive terms for the president, thus highly concentrating state power on individuals. The Communist Party of China claims to inherit Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary legacy, but its actual political actions run counter to its ideas on civil rights.

The best way to succeed Sun Yat-sen is to return power to the people

Hong Puzhao criticized that the historical background of Sun Yat-sen's pursuit of national reunification cannot be confused with today's political reality on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Instead of clamoring to inherit Sun Yat-sen’s legacy and demand cross-strait reunification, the CCP should first practice the sovereignty advocated by Sun Yat-sen and reside in the people.