China's 'unification benefits' hold no appeal for Taiwanese: MAC

Taipei, Oct. 25 (CNA) Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Saturday that the "benefits after unification" touted by Chinese authorities at a Beijing event marking "the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's restoration to China" hold no appeal for the people of Taiwan.

"The crux of cross-strait relations lies in systemic differences, and the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) so-called 'benefits after unification' hold no appeal for the people of Taiwan," the MAC said in a news statement issued Saturday afternoon.

As Taiwan's top agency for cross-strait affairs, the MAC said Chinese authorities are attempting to unilaterally map out a blueprint for unification and tout its benefits in order to "entice unification."

"We believe the essence of cross-strait relations is a contest of systems, where democracy and authoritarianism cannot be reconciled," the council added.

MAC's statement came after Chinese authorities held a gathering in Beijing to commemorate "the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's restoration to China" on Oct. 25, which the Taiwanese side refers to as "Taiwan Retrocession Day."

To the Republic of China (ROC) government, "Taiwan Retrocession Day" commemorates the transfer of control of Taiwan proper and the Penghu Islands from Japan to the ROC on Oct. 25, 1945, after 50 years of Japanese colonial rule.

That transfer date was nearly four years before the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on Oct. 1, 1949.

A number of highest-ranking CCP officials attended the Beijing event, including Wang Huning (王滬寧), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (王毅).

In his remarks, Wang Huning said that after "peaceful unification," Taiwan would have the backing of a "powerful motherland" and that seven areas in Taiwan would "be better," according to a report by the Chinese-language newspaper United Daily News.

Those areas, the report said, include economic development, energy and resource security, and security guarantees.

Wang Huning also said that designating Oct. 25 as "Commemoration Day of Taiwan's Restoration" -- a designation announced Friday -- can consolidates the international community's adherence to "the broad consensus that there is only one China in the world and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China."

Despite the ROC government's relocation to Taipei in late 1949 at the end of the Chinese Civil War, Taiwan and the outlying islands of Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu remain under ROC control to date and have never been ruled by the PRC.

As 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the ROC and the PRC have clashed multiple times this year over who led in the Second Sino-Japanese War and over commemorations such as Sept. 3 Victory over Japan Day and Oct. 25 Taiwan Retrocession Day.

On Oct. 17, MAC head Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正), said in a video statement that Chinese authorities have "fabricated the false narrative that Taiwan belongs to the PRC" in recent years -- an attempt, he said, "to eliminate the ROC and annex Taiwan."

Describing Beijing's events marking Taiwan Retrocession Day as "united front activities," Chiu said the Taiwanese government has banned public officials at the central and local levels, as well as faculty and staff at schools at all levels, from attending those events organized by Chinese authorities.