Chinese officials and state media predictably set their hair on fire after Lai Ching-te won Taiwan’s presidential election on Saturday, extending the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) hold on power to an unprecedented third term.
China threatened dire consequences for Taiwanese voters, rattled its saber, warned the U.S. and its allies not to indulge Lai’s “separatist” urges, and poached another of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
Lai won with about 40 percent of the vote on Saturday, defeating the more China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Hou Yu-ih and leftist Taiwan People Party (TPP) candidate Ko Wen-je by a slightly wider margin than polling anticipated.
Lai, the sitting vice-president to term-limited President Tsai Ing-wen, ran as her successor – and China absolutely loathed Tsai. Chinese officials and media outlets spent the weeks leading up to the election painting Lai as an irresponsible separatist whose election would increase tensions across the Taiwan Strait and possibly lead to war. In his victory speech, Lai congratulated Taiwanese voters for standing up to “efforts from external forces to influence this election.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry seethed on Sunday that Taiwan’s elections will “change” nothing of importance:
The Taiwan question is China’s internal affair. Whatever changes take place in Taiwan, the basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China will not change; the Chinese government’s position of upholding the one-China principle and opposing “Taiwan independence” separatism, “two Chinas” and “one China, one Taiwan” will not change; and the international community’s prevailing consensus on upholding the one-China principle and long-standing and overwhelming adherence to this principle will not change.
The one-China principle is the solid anchor for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We believe that the international community will continue to adhere to the one-China principle, and understand and support the Chinese people’s just cause of opposing “Taiwan independence” separatist activities and striving to achieve national reunification.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning railed against the U.S. government for sending a delegation to meet with Lai and Tsai in Taiwan:
China firmly opposes the U.S. having any form of official interaction with Taiwan and interfering in Taiwan affairs in any way or under any pretext. We urge the U.S. to have a clear understanding of the extreme complexity and sensitivity of the Taiwan question, earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, and act seriously in accordance with the commitments that have been reaffirmed multiple times by the US leaders to not supporting “Taiwan independence”, “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan”, and not seeking to use the Taiwan question as a tool to contain China.
The U.S. needs to exercise extreme prudence in handling Taiwan-related issues, and must not obscure and hollow out the one-China principle in any form or send any wrong signal to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces.
Mao congratulated the Republic of Nauru, one of Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic allies after a relentless campaign of isolation launched by Beijing following the election of Tsai Ing-wen in 2016, for announcing it would break with Taiwan after Lai’s victory.
Nauru, a small island northeast of Australia, was one of 13 countries that still maintained formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
“The Nauru government’s decision of reestablishing diplomatic ties with China once again shows that the one-China principle is where global opinion trends and where the arc of history bends,” said Mao.
Mao lashed out at Singapore for offering congratulations to Lai, announcing that Beijing “has immediately made solemn demarches” to the Singaporean government and warning that China expects Singapore to “strictly abide by the one-China principle.”
China also erupted with fury at the U.S. State Department for congratulating Lai and the Taiwanese people for “once again demonstrating the strength of their robust democratic system and electoral process.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry fumed that the State Department’s congratulatory message “seriously violates the one-China principle” and “sends a gravely wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”
China’s state-run Global Times on Sunday said China has “made serious representations to the U.S.” over the State Department’s message.
In a lengthy rant, the Global Times accused the U.S. of having a “double-faced policy” because it made soothing noises to China while sending a delegation of former officials to Taiwan for meetings with the outgoing and incoming presidents.
The Chinese Communist paper quoted Chinese “experts” who feared the U.S. is “boosting connections with Taiwan secessionist forces to better manipulate and exploit the island to counter China,” although it also gave President Joe Biden a pat on the head for stating that his administration does not “support independence” for Taiwan.
“The danger of provocation by Taiwan secessionists and the risk of increased cross-Straits tension are greater with the DPP continuing in power, therefore China needs to enhance its warnings to the U.S. against Taiwan secessionists’ provocation triggering a clash,” Center for American Studies at Fudan University director Xin Qiang said.
The Global Times’ roster of “Chinese experts” mostly repeated the mantra that Taiwan’s elections are utterly meaningless because the trajectory of reunification cannot be altered, mixed with warnings that Lai might do something rash because he does not understand how meaningless his election was.
The editorial tantrum concluded with a little comfort food from “Taiwan compatriots” who assured the Global Times that Lai won despite “real public opinion” being firmly in favor of China and against the DPP’s policies.
“Because Taiwan’s election system is under the manipulation and control of foreign interference forces and some local interest groups with pro-secessionist and anti-reunification stances, the people in Taiwan are unable to effectively decide their own future,” the Chinese propagandists sneered.