Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily and military outlet PLA Daily each devoted an entire page on Tuesday to responses and criticisms from various mainland officials to Lai’s speech, delivered the previous day.
In a scathing commentary, People’s Daily accused Lai of using the address to “rally around the flag of Taiwan independence” and “incite hatred against the Chinese people”.
According to the commentary, Lai was “vigorously promoting separatist fallacies, inciting confrontation and hostility across the Taiwan Strait”. The speech was “full of provocative rhetoric, peddling the ‘two-country theory’ and advocating for ‘mutual non-subordination’ between the two sides”, it said.
Several senior Beijing officials had earlier slammed Lai for sending “dangerous signals” in the speech, while state news agency Xinhua commented that “those who play with fire will burn themselves”.
05:06
William Lai sworn in as new Taiwan leader amid pledge to keep status quo across the strait
William Lai sworn in as new Taiwan leader amid pledge to keep status quo across the strait
Beijing also hit out at Washington over US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s congratulations to Lai on his inauguration.
In his message, Blinken said he looked forward to Washington and Taipei maintaining “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Blinken’s message “seriously violates the one-China principle … and sends a wrong signal to separatist forces”.
“We are strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to this, and have lodged stern representations with the United States,” Wang said.
Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory, to be eventually brought under mainland control. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to arm Taiwan.
Unlike Tsai, who acknowledged the 1992 consensus – a tacit agreement between Beijing and Taipei that there is one China but each side of the Taiwan Strait can have its own interpretation of what constitutes “China” – Lai did not mention it.
Instead, he said that Beijing had to “face the reality of the Republic of China’s existence” – using Taiwan’s official name – while “the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other”.
03:03
Furious mainland China slams Taiwanese leader’s ‘blatant’ call for independence
Furious mainland China slams Taiwanese leader’s ‘blatant’ call for independence
Lai’s words were interpreted on the mainland as a clear call to action for Taiwan independence – a red line that must not be crossed, according to Beijing.
Lai, who has previously described himself as a “pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence”, is regarded as a separatist troublemaker by Beijing, with observers concerned that his presidency could escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
“His words are filled with sinister intentions to seek independence through external means and to use military force to achieve it, once again revealing his stubborn stance on ‘Taiwan independence’,” the People’s Daily commentary said.
The article also warned that Lai’s words would only serve to further divide Taiwan from the mainland and escalate tensions between the two sides.
People’s Daily labelled Lai’s pledge that he would strive to maintain the status quo as “a complete charade” and said that he had “long been engaged in separatist activities but he pretends to be a champion of peace. This is the most shameless and unscrupulous act.”
“Headed down the path of provocation and confrontation, he is destined to crash into a brick wall,” it said.
The commentary said most of Taiwan’s people wanted peace, development, and cooperation, not war, decline, and separatism.
The Chinese nation had a shared belief that “its territory cannot be divided, its state cannot be chaotic, its people cannot be scattered, and its civilisation cannot be broken”, the article said.
“This is a historical necessity and internal logic that will inevitably lead to China’s reunification.”
In a series of articles published in the PLA Daily, senior officials criticised Lai’s speech as a “provocation” and a “threat to regional peace and stability”, accusing Lai of attempting to “split China” and “create chaos in the region”.
Despite the furious response, Beijing has been somewhat restrained in terms of military manoeuvring, with the Taiwanese defence ministry reporting low activity in the 24 hours to 6am on Tuesday.
The ministry said no People Liberation Army aircraft had crossed the median line – a notional midpoint in the Taiwan Strait – in the period, while eight PLA Navy vessels were operating near the island. Both figures are low by mainland norms.
