William Lei won the Taiwanese elections this weekend with 40.2 percent. This means that the China-critical Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will provide the president for the third term in a row. The 64-year-old Lai represents a more critical attitude towards China.
Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a renegade province, previously emphasized that the Chinese position has not changed and that reunification remains “inevitable.” Wang Yi warned today in the Egyptian capital Cairo that any move towards Taiwan’s independence will not go unpunished. “If anyone on the island of Taiwan plans to move toward independence, he will try to divide Chinese territory and will be severely punished.”
According to the Chinese minister, Taiwan has never been a country. “Whatever the results of the elections, they cannot change the fundamental fact that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of it.”