(TibetanReview.net, Oct10’24) – Taiwan’s president William Lai Ching-te has said the People’s republic of China (PRC) cannot claim to represent his Republic of China (ROC) which he has pointed out is older – having been founded on Jan 1, 1912 – hitting raw nerves in Beijing which has not ruled out armed invasion to “reunite” the two sides.
China marked its 75th national day on Oct 1, and Taiwan its 113th on Oct 10.
Beijing has accused Lai of escalating hostility after his recent comments that the PRC could not be the island’s motherland.
Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office, has said Lai had not only tried to deceive and intimidate the Taiwan people, harming their interests, but was covering up his efforts to provoke separatism and damage cross-strait relations.
“Lai Ching-te’s Taiwan independence fallacy is just old wine in new bottles, and again exposes his obstinate stance on Taiwan independence and his sinister intentions of escalating hostility and confrontation,” the scmp.com Oct 9 quoted Zhu as saying.
But Lai, giving a keynote national address outside the presidential office in Taipei on his country’s national day of Oct 10, has reiterated that the ROC – the island’s formal name – and the PRC are “not subordinate to each other”.
But such an assertion goes against the grain of China’s claim that Taiwan, a “renegade province”, belongs to it.
Nevertheless, Taiwan rejects the claim, saying it has never been a part of the PRC, which was established on Oct 1, 1949.
Taiwan, on the other hand, marks as its national day the anniversary of the 2011 revolution, known as the Xinhai Revolution, which toppled China’s last imperial dynasty.
“On this land, democracy and freedom are growing and thriving. The PRC has no right to represent Taiwan,” Reuters Oct 10 quoted Lai as saying.
Taiwan’s determination to defend its sovereignty, maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait and seek equal and dignified talks with China all remain unchanged, he has added.
While holding out an offer of cooperation with China, Lai has made it clear, “I will also uphold the commitment to resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty.”
“We are willing to work with China on addressing climate change, combating infectious diseases, and maintaining regional security to pursue peace and mutual prosperity for the well-being of the people on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,” he has added.
Beijing has repeatedly denounced the Taiwanese leader as an “obstinate separatist” and has been angered by his attempts to reframe the relationship between the two sides.
He has promoted the concept of “mutual non-subordination”, presenting Taiwan and the mainland as separate entities to cement a distinct Taiwanese identity, noted the scmp.com report.
The ROC government of China led by the Kuomintang, or Nationalist, forces, fled to Taiwan after their defeat by the communists in the civil war, and set up an interim government there under Chiang Kai-shek.
While Chiang had hoped to regain control of the mainland, Lai has added: “We will no longer attack the mainland, but we are also unwilling to be ruled by the Communist Party.”
Taiwan’s Kuomintang party, now the single largest in parliament, sees democracy and respect for human rights as preconditions for holding talks on a political settlement between the two sides. Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party, on the other hand, is seen as favouring a separate national identity for the island.