Barely elected president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te (also known by his English name, William Lai) pledged on Saturday to protect the island “ threats and intimidation from China », Beijing, which claims sovereignty of the territory, was quick to renew its threats. Any step towards Taiwan’s independence will be “severely punished”warned the head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, on Sunday January 14.
“If anyone on the island of Taiwan intends to move towards independence, they (…) will try to divide Chinese territory and will certainly be severely punished by history and law”, declared the latter during a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Choukri, in Cairo. For its part, Taiwan called on China on Sunday to “respect the results of the election, face reality and renounce repressing Taiwan”according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Beijing, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan back into its fold, reacted to Mr. Lai’s victory by asserting that it would not change anything “the inevitable trend towards the reunification of China”. “It’s a dead end”he added.
Increased diplomatic and military pressure
For the head of Chinese diplomacy, “Whatever the results of the election, they cannot change the fundamental fact that there is only one China and that Taiwan is one of them.” “Taiwan has never been a country. It wasn’t in the past and it certainly won’t be in the future.”he declared again.
Efforts in this direction “seriously threaten the well-being of Taiwanese compatriots, seriously harm the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation, and seriously undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait region”, Wang Yi warned again. At the dawn of the election, China increased its diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan. The army said it “will take all necessary measures to firmly crush attempts at “Taiwan independence” in all their forms.”
Big victory for Lai Ching-te
But voters on the autonomous island ignored warnings and attempts at pressure from Beijing, granting a large victory to the Progressive Democratic Party candidate on Saturday. Lai Ching-te, aged 64 and a fervent defender of the territory’s autonomy, is described by the Chinese Communist Party as a dangerous separatist, because of his comments in favor of the independence of the island.
He came first in the presidential election with 40.1% of the votes. During his victory speech, the president-elect estimated that “The Taiwanese people resisted efforts by outside forces to influence this election”. “We are determined to protect Taiwan from China’s continued threats and intimidation”he declared again in front of his supporters, promising however to “continue exchanges and cooperation with China” in economic matters. Mr. Lai will take office on May 20.