BEIJING (Reuters) – China issued a stern warning on Monday that said any move towards independence for Taiwan would be futile, as Lai Ching-te was inaugurated as Taiwan’s new president.
(CNN) Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to bring it under control by force if necessary, with previous leaders threatening war over moves towards formal independence.China’s leader Xi Jinping has previously called Mr Lai a “dangerous separatist” due to his earlier comments about the island’s sovereignty but he has softened his language in recent years.
According to Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, who commented on Lai’s swearing in, “Taiwan independence is a dead end.” He also stressed that, “Regardless of how it is disguised or what form it takes, the attempt for Taiwan independence and secession from China is doomed to fail.”
Also on Sunday US defence companies were sanctioned by China in response to arms sales to Taiwan coinciding with Lai’s inauguration. Furthermore Weibo – popular Chinese social media platform blocked hashtags related to the event thus preventing them from trending across its hundreds of millions of users within China.
Immediately before the swearing-in ceremony took place, the Taiwanese Affairs Office declared: “Taiwan Independence and Strait Peace are water-fire incompatible”.
