Taiwan should abandon its “hallucinations” about pushing for independence and any moves toward it would be a “poison”, Chinese state-run media warned Sunday, after the island’s independence-leaning opposition Democratic Progressive Party achieved a landslide victory Saturday.
Advertisement
Voters concerned that Taiwan’s economy is under threat from China and broadly opposed to Beijing’s demands for political unification resoundingly chose Tsai over the Nationalists’ Eric Chu, a late replacement for his party’s original candidate who was seen as alienating voters. She asked China to respect the country’s democracy as she vowed to lead a “new era” in Taiwan.
Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party won a convincing victory in both presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday.
Tsai has pledged to maintain the status quo of de-facto independence, although she has refused to endorse the principle that Taiwan and China are parts of a single nation to be unified eventually.
“On such a major issue as safeguarding state sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Chinese government has rock-solid determination and never tolerates any separatist activities aiming at ‘Taiwan independence, ‘” said the statement, quoting ministry spokesman Hong Lei.
Expressing concern over a planned visit by a former American official to Taiwan for talks with the new government on the island, China today asked the United States to be cautious on the Taiwan issue and not medddle in China’s internal affairs. The 1.3 billion mainland Chinese people and 23 million Taiwan compatriots are looking forward to observing her actions.
The urgent challenge for Tsai is to achieve economic development that will be felt among the Taiwanese people, while stabilizing Taiwan’s relations with China.
But on Saturday Chou Tzu-yu became the center of a political storm, after she forced to make a humiliating apology to China for daring to hold Taiwan’s flag on Korean television.
China which considers Taiwan a breakaway province maintains a one-China policy.
Either way, Tsai’s priority will be to take a more assertive stance without bringing on a confrontation with Beijing.
Advertisement
But some analysts say her rhetoric has hardened somewhat in the wake of her victory, when she said that “any forms of suppression will harm the stability of cross-strait relations”. Beijing needs to keep up its dialogue with Taiwan under Tsai’s leadership and seek to build a new, mutually acceptable foundation for cross-strait relations. “Tsai Ing-wen should not instil this illusion into Taiwan society”, the editorial said. “I think we still have a chance”, added Paige Lin, 48, who works in the electronics industry, saying she would vote for Chu “for our next generation, for people on both sides of the strait”.
