Beijing, Jan 4 (EFE).- China accused Taiwan’s current vice president and the ruling party’s presidential candidate, William Lai, of “spreading rumors” against the mainland on Thursday.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua, at a press conference, claimed that attacking China during the island’s regional elections was an old trick of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
DPP politicians have no moral integrity, they lack self-discipline, and when their “corrupt and immoral” acts are exposed, they divert attention by spreading rumors about Chinese intervention in elections, he said.
Chen’s reaction comes after Lai alleged Chinese electoral interference and said Taiwan will resist the mainland’s efforts to influence the Jan. 13 elections.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, said the island was “taking measures to counter China’s interference and is documenting its experiences,” according to a publication in The Economist.
Joseph said Taiwan would release documents on Chinese interference after the elections, which Beijing has referred to as a crucial choice “between war and peace.”
The term of the ruling DPP under the leadership of the current president, Tsai Ing-wen – who is ineligible for a third term – has been marked by heightened tensions with China.
If Lai wins, island experts predict he will maintain a close relationship with Washington in search of protection and against Beijing’s growing military and diplomatic intimidation.
China has labeled the ruling PDP as a separatist party and has cut off communications with it since it won the elections in 2016.
China considers the island, governed autonomously since 1949, a breakaway part of its territory.
Beijing says it reserves the right to use force to reunify Taiwan, even though a peaceful merger would be its first choice.
The island was the refuge of the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) forces after losing the civil war with the Communists, who, since then, have claimed sovereignty over the territory. EFE
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