China says Taiwan courting 'disaster' after island's independence bid comment
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen
The Chinese government warned self-ruledTaiwanon Thursday that it wascourting"disaster",afterthe running mate for President Tsai Ing-wen in Januaryelections said he was working toward the island'sindependence, a red line for Beijing.
Tsai chose former premier William Lai as her vice-presidential candidate on Sunday, the same dayChinasailed an aircraft carrier group through the sensitiveTaiwanStrait, a move Taipei denounced as attempted intimidation.
The issue ofTaiwan's formalindependencehas shot into theelectionspotlight since Lai joined with Tsai.
Their Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is in favour of formalindependence. But Tsai has said she is not looking to change the status quo withChina, in whichTaiwanseeks neither formalindependencenor to be part of the People's Republic ofChina.
In April last year, while premier, Lai told parliament he was a "Taiwanindependenceworker" and that his position was thatTaiwanwas a sovereign, independent country.
China's nationalistic Global Times tabloid responded by sayingChinashould issue an international arrest warrant for him to face prosecution under the country's 2005 Anti-Secession Law.ChinaconsidersTaiwanits territory, to be taken by force if necessary.
)
Israel-Iran conflict: 78 killed, over 320 injured in Israeli missile attacks, says Iranian ambassador to UN
)
Israel-Iran conflict: Trump calls for diplomacy amid escalating tensions, speaks to Netanyahu, world leaders
)
300-year-old shipwreck with $20 billion worth of treasure has four parties squabbling
)
‘All of Israel is under fire’: Iran launches missile barrage after Israeli airstrikes in Tehran
)
'Bad unintended infographics': Israel 'apologises' for map showing Jammu and Kashmir in Pakistan, and it's not the first time
)
US helped Israel deflect Iran's retaliatory strikes as Israel warns ‘Tehran will pay a price’
)
Israel strikes Isfahan nuclear center in Iran, sound of explosions heard near Tehran
)
Israel-Iran conflict: Israel says Iran ‘crossed red lines by daring to fire missiles at civilians’
)
Iran launches 'Operation True Promise 3' in retaliation to Israeli strikes, vows further action
)
Israel-Iran conflict: Iran's foreign minister rejects calls for restraint amid military escalation
)
‘Years of planning, 200 aircraft, 300 munitions’: Israel smuggled drones, weapons into Iran before launching strikes | Inside Operation Rising Lion
)
Biggest show-off buy in IPL? Indian all-rounder won titles with CSK and MI without playing a single game with them
)
Explosions near Khamenei’s residence: Israel strikes Tehran’s 'most guarded' Pasteur neighbourhood - Report
)
'Will bring vile Zionist regime to its knees': In address after attack, Iran's supreme leader Khamenei warns Israel will be 'helpless'
)
Moment when Iran launched ballistic missiles on Israel as retaliatory action | Video
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
Missiles seen in sky, explosions heard, buildings damaged: What unfolded in Tel Aviv moments after Iran launched retaliatory airstrikes
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
Ahmedabad plane crash: Man returns wife’s ashes to India, dies in Air India AI-171 tragedy days later
)
Iran gets 'top-secret Israeli files', then Tel Aviv strikes: Was Operation Rising Lion a cover-up to stop Israel's nuclear secrets from coming out?
)
‘Fake, baseless’: Israel denies Iran’s claim of downing two F-35 jets, capturing woman pilot
)
‘Iran has never been weaker’: Netanyahu urges Iranians to rise against 'evil, oppressive regime', warns ‘more strikes on the way’
)
Sunjay Kapur death: Can a bee sting lead to a heart attack? Doctors weigh in
In a Facebook post on Monday, Lai repeated that he was a "realistic worker forTaiwanindependence," noting thatTaiwanwas already a sovereign nation called the Republic ofChina, its official name, and not "attached" to mainlandChina.
Responding to a question on those remarks,China'sTaiwanAffairs Office said both sides of theTaiwanStrait belong to oneChina, and that the country's "reunification" is not something any force can stop.
"'Taiwanindependence' is a dead end, and it will only bring profound disaster toTaiwan. It will surely be opposed by all Chinese people, includingTaiwancompatriots," it added.
Tsai asked on Tuesdayafterformally registering her candidacy whether she supported formalTaiwanindependence, said that it was a question she had addressed before and that the Republic ofChinaonTaiwanwas already a sovereign, independent nation.
Tsai's main opponent, Han Kuo-yu of theChina-friendly Kuomintang party, has described formalindependenceas being worse than syphilis.
He said this week that Tsai and Lai's remarks onTaiwanalready being an independent state is equivalent to a "backdoor listing" for formalindependence.
Although the DPP is not technically campaigning on a promise to officially declare the independent Republic ofTaiwan, some of its politicians are more explicit.
The son of formerTaiwanpresident Chen Shui-bian, a DPP councillor in the southern city of Kaohsiung, climbedTaiwan's highest mountain this week and put pictures on his Facebook page of him holding a flag that read, "I amTaiwanese. I stand forTaiwan'sIndependence."