No to US interference in Taiwan's elections: China

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
13 Dec 2023 09:28
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The spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese State Council condemns the interference of the US in Taiwan's presidential elections, saying, "Taiwan's elections are China's internal affair."

Taiwan's Vice President William Lai Ching-te on Aug. 14, 2023 (AP)

The Taiwan Affairs in the Chinese State Council spokesperson, Zhu Fenglian, stated on Wednesday that the United States should not intervene in the Taiwanese elections, as they are solely an internal Chinese affair.

The Taiwanese presidential elections are set to take place on January 13, 2024, with the Democratic Progressive Party's chair, Lai Ching-Te, being nominated as the party's presidential candidate. The current Taiwanese President, Tsai Ing-wen, has been contrabanded and cannot run for the elections as she has served two consecutive terms already.

In a news conference, Zhu said, "Taiwan's election is China's internal affair, and interference by outside forces is unacceptable," adding that US President Joe Biden has opposed "Taiwan's independence" in a clear stance, as the US made serious political commitments to Beijing on the issue of Taiwan during the US-China top-level summit in San Francisco in November.

"The US must fulfill its promises, stop sending false signals to pro-independence forces in Taiwan, and stop interfering in Taiwan's elections," Zhu added.

Earlier, the director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Sandra Oudkirk, claimed that China was behind a series of cyberattacks launched against Taiwan in an attempt to rig the elections and destroy Taiwan's democratic system.

China asks the US not to interfere... again

Contrary to Biden's commitments against the independence of Taiwan, the US has motioned to pass a bill that sends military aid to Ukraine, "Israel", and Taiwan, notably for its fight against Beijing. In May, Joe Biden tapped into his executive powers to fast-track a $500 million military package that is being prepared for Taiwan and will be supplied from US military stocks, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.

In April, the US Indo-Pacific Command dispatched more than 200 troops to Taiwan to help the island's armed forces with training as Washington further breaches Beijing's "One China" policy and escalates tensions in the Asian giant's vicinity.

The US continues to send a small number of military trainers to Taiwan and militarize the island through arms sales.

China has repeatedly expressed its firm will to fight against "Taiwan’s independence" and promote reunification of the island with the homeland.

In a government report at the opening of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's supreme legislative body, China stressed that it will "steadfastly implement the [Chinese Commuist] Party's overall strategy to resolve the Taiwan issue in the new era, firmly uphold the one-China principle and abide by the 1992 consensus," as per Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

It also underlined that the government will "fight resolutely against so-called Taiwan independence, promote the peaceful development of relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and advance the peaceful reunification of the homeland."

Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson Tan Kefei then demanded "that the United States stop selling arms to Taiwan and military contacts with Taipei, stop interfering in the Taiwan issue and aggravate tensions in the Taiwan Strait."