The Chinese government on Wednesday (17/1) emphasized that their policy of not hesitating to use armed force to control Taiwan is aimed at countering foreign interference and a small number of groups who want to secede. Beijing also encouraged Taiwanese people to eliminate their “prejudice” towards China.
Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which won last week’s presidential election, rejects Beijing’s claims of sovereignty. However, they repeatedly offered to hold dialogue, but China rejected it.
China views elected president Lai Ching-te as a dangerous separatist.
Chen Binhua, a spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a regular press conference in Beijing that Taiwan’s election results do not change the fact that the island belongs to China and will eventually be “reunified”.
A giant propaganda slogan reading “One Country, Two Systems, Unite China”, can be seen from Taiwan’s Kinmen Island, on a beach in Xiamen, in China’s southeastern Fujian Province, January 11, 2024. two days before Taiwan’s presidential election. (Photo: AFP)
“Our statement not pledging not to use force is not aimed at Taiwanese people at all. We are targeting the interference of external forces and a small number of Taiwanese independence separatists and their separatist activities,” Chen said.
Over the past year and a half, China has twice conducted large-scale war games around Taiwan and regularly sends fighter jets and warships to the Taiwan Strait.
He said mainstream public opinion in Taiwan wants peace not war, exchange not distance, and to “overthrow” the DPP. This is a repeat of China’s previous comments after Lai managed to win with less than 50 percent of the vote and the DPP failed to control parliament.
“If the DPP does not repent and continues to pursue the evil path of seeking the provocation of ‘independence’, it will only push Taiwan into a dangerous situation and bring serious losses to Taiwan,” he threatened.
Chen said Taiwanese people are “our flesh and blood”. But some of them are said to have been “poisoned” by the idea of independence and have a “biased understanding” of cross-strait relations and national identity.
“We are willing to maintain sufficient patience and tolerance, continue to deepen the majority of Taiwanese people’s understanding of the mainland, and gradually reduce their misunderstandings and doubts,” he added.
“We hope and believe that our compatriots in Taiwan can stand firmly on the right side of history and be upright Chinese people,” he said.
As if to underscore the difference in understanding, Chen rebuked a Taiwanese reporter who used the word “Beijing” to refer to China. He corrected that the correct words were “land”.
Photo of Taiwan’s president-elect Lai Ching-te and his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim outside the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters in Taipei on January 13, 2024. (Photo: AFP)
Polls in Taiwan show that today the majority of citizens consider themselves Taiwanese, not Chinese. The poll also found that there was almost no respondents’ support for the “one country, two systems” model of autonomy that China implemented so that the island would accept Beijing’s rule.
However, Chen did not name Lai, who will take office on May 20, unlike before the election when the Taiwan Affairs Office repeatedly and directly called him a separatist and a danger to peace.
China says negotiations can only take place if Taiwan recognizes both sides of the Taiwan Strait as part of “one China”. However, the government led by the DPP refused to do so. (ah/rs)