China calls Taiwan's newly elected president a “shameful traitor”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called Taiwan's newly appointed president, Lai Ching-te, “shameful” just a day after he took office. Tensions between the countries escalated again.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to Reuters.

Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Kazakhstan, Wang said that Taiwan is the "core of key issues" for China and that pro-independence activities are the most destructive factor for peace in the Taiwan Strait.

"The ugly actions of Lai Chinte and others who betray the nation and their ancestors are shameful. Nothing can stop China from achieving reunification and returning Taiwan to the motherland. All Taiwan independence separatists will be nailed to a shameful pillar in history," Wang said. AND.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that China's coercive measures will not affect Taipei's policy.

"Political coercion and diplomatic repression by the authoritarian Chinese government will never change Taiwan's steadfast democratic beliefs," the statement said.

Lai, like his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, emphasizes that only the people of Taiwan can decide their future, rejecting Beijing's claims to sovereignty.

On Tuesday, China also hit out at the United States for sending its congratulations on Lai's inauguration as president of Taiwan. Despite staunch Chinese resistance, Beijing also criticized South Korean and Japanese lawmakers for visiting Taiwan.

In his inauguration speech on Monday, May 20, Chinte asked China to stop military and political threats, saying that peace is the only choice and that Beijing must respect the choice of the Taiwanese people.

Lai received loud applause after repeating that the "Republic of China" is the official name of Taiwan and the People's Republic of China "are not subject to each other," a line Lai also repeated.

Beijing believes that such a formulation is equivalent to the fact that China and Taiwan are different countries, and this is a “red line” for the Chinese authorities. According to China, any move by Taiwan to declare formal independence will be grounds for an attack on the island.

The government in Taipei declares that Taiwan is already an independent country, the Republic of China. The Republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's Communists, who created the People's Republic of China.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 22/05/2024