TAIPEI (Reuters) – China will not change its position that Taiwan belongs to it and the world will only ever recognize that there is “one China”, Beijing said on Sunday after President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election and said she would not submit to China’s threats.
Incumbent Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President-elect William Lai attend a rally after their election victory, outside the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan January 11, 2020. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
China’s ramped up efforts to get democratic Taiwan to accept Beijing’s rule under a “one country, two systems” model, as well as anti-government protests in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, dominated the election campaign.
China says Taiwan is its territory. Taiwan says it is an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name.
Tsai won another four-year term by a landslide, and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also gained a majority in parliament.
Speaking on Saturday after the scale of her victory become clear, Tsai called for talks to resume with China, but said she hoped Beijing understood Taiwan and its people won’t submit to intimidation.
China’s Foreign Ministry, responding to the vote, said Taiwan was an internal affair for China.
“No matter what changes there are to the internal situation in Taiwan, the basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China will not change,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Chinese government will not change its stance sticking to the “one China” principle and opposing Taiwan independence, it added.
“The universal consensus of the international community adhering to the ‘one China’ principle will not change either.”
China hoped the world would understand and support the “just cause” of Chinese people to oppose secessionist activities and “realize national reunification”, the ministry added.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a separate statement on Saturday it would stick to promoting “one country, two systems” for Taiwan, a model under which Beijing runs Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy.
Many in the former British colony fear promises made under the system are not being kept.
Tsai has firmly rejected “one country, two systems”.
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; editing by Richard Pullin