Stop threatening Taiwan and accept the existence of democracy, the island state’s new leader has said in a message to China.
Shortly after being sworn in yesterday, the newly inaugurated president, William Lai, urged Beijing to replace confrontation with dialogue, the BBC reports.
He also said Taiwan would never back down in the face of intimidation from China, which has long claimed the island as its own.
However, Beijing responded: “Taiwan independence is a dead end.”
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin is quoted as saying: “Regardless of the pretext or the banner under which it is pursued, the push for Taiwan independence is destined to fail.”
According to the BBC, Beijing dislikes Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which they see as pro-independence. And it has ramped up military incursions around Taiwan’s waters and airspace since his election win in January.
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