The Taiwanese government sends a stern message to China

CNN reports that Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te declared that it was “absolutely impossible” for mainland China to become the motherland of his fellow country people.

The reason claimed by Lai, which no doubt infuriated Beijing, was that the Taiwanese government was older than the Communist rule in China.

The Guardian writes that the Taiwanese leader made his statements just after the People’s Republic of China celebrated its 75th anniversary and just a few days before the 113th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of China.

“We must remember that we are a sovereign and independent country”, Lai declared, as quoted by The Guardian.

The government in Taiwan, officially called the Republic of China, claims to trace its history from the republican movement that overthrew the last imperial Chinese dynasty in 1912, explains The Guardian.

This republican government, CNN points out, fled to the island of Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War in the late 1940s against the Communists, led by Mao Zedong.

Since then, the governments of Beijing and Taipei claim to be the only legitimate Chinese state, with mainland China arguing that Taiwan is only a breakaway province.

For several decades, the Taiwanese government headquartered in Taipei was ruled by Chiang Kai-shek, but it transitioned into a democracy in the 1990s.

Taiwan is currently regarded as a beacon of progress, freedom, and human rights in Asia, as well as a powerhouse in the tech industry.

However, unsolved issues across the strait that divides the two government still remain. Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated Beijing’s claim over the island of Taiwan on the eve of his country’s national day.

“Taiwan is China’s sacred territory. Blood is thicker than water, and people on both sides of the strait are connected by blood”, Xi declared on The Great Hall of the People in Beijing, as quoted by CNN.

CNN describes the current Beijing government as the most assertive in decades when it comes to dealing with Taiwan, ramping up the aggressive rhetoric against Taipei.

Lai, who was elected last May, has well-known sympathies with the independence movement in Taiwan, which favors dropping any political claims in Mainland China to avoid any further hindrance. This hasn’t sat well for the Beijing government.

This has been hardly the only controversial comment made by the current Taiwanese President on his country’s relations with Beijing.

The Guardian remarks that last September Lai quipped that, if the People’s Republic of China was so interested in historical claims, it should discuss with Russia about territory handed over to Moscow during the last dynasty.

The People’s Republic of China is one of the leading superpowers of the world, while Taiwan has always enjoyed the tacit support of the United States. How long will this tiny island stand in the face of the Asian giant?

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