Kenji Kawase
Nikkei Asia, Jan. 14, 2024
“To meet its goals, Beijing explicitly added “relevant political parties [and] groups” that it will work with to promote cross-strait exchanges for “the great cause of the reunification of the motherland.””
Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party does not represent the island, Beijing said Saturday in an initial response to the DPP’s victory in the presidential election, a statement that seems to dismiss the outcome of a democratic vote.
Chen Binhua, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), issued a statement through state-run Xinhua News Agency that presidential and legislative elections on Saturday showed that the DPP “cannot represent the mainstream public opinion on the island.”
The two other candidates — Hou Yu-ih of the China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) and Ko Wen-je of the emerging Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) — praised Lai’s victory as the collective decision of the Taiwanese people, a sentiment Beijing clearly did not share.
China has a confrontational history toward the DPP, and the response following the Beijing-skeptic party’s past victories has also been critical.
But this time, the TAO may be highlighting that president-elect Lai Ching-te received less than half the total vote and that his party lost the majority in parliamentary elections held on the same day.
The tone and wording this time was different from previous statements that followed past Taiwanese presidential and parliamentary elections.
” … [To read the full article, click here]
________________________________________________________
