Taiwan’s president ‘prostituting himself’ – Beijing

Lai Ching-te is “propagating separatist fallacies” while selling out to foreign powers, officials have said

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is selling himself out to foreign powers to advance separatism in the self-ruled island, officials in Beijing have said.

In an interview with the conservative US radio program ‘The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show’ on Monday, Lai reiterated that he sees Taiwan as an independent country and not part of China, stressing that Beijing has no right to invade the island. He also argued that US President Donald Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize if he convinces Chinese President Xi Jinping to permanently renounce the use of force against Taiwan. 

In response, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office called Lai’s remarks “nonsense” and accused him of “propagating the separatist fallacies of ‘Taiwan independence.’” 

“He has engaged in unprincipled foreign pandering and bottomless selling out of Taiwan, squandering the flesh and blood of the people, prostituting himself and throwing in his lot with foreign forces,” the statement said.

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In recent months, several foreign politicians have called for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his conflict mediation efforts. Some of these overtures, however, are widely viewed as symbolic gestures or attempts to curry favor with the US president.

Taiwan has for years bought US weapons to deter the Chinese military, with media reports suggesting that Washington aims to approve arms sales to Taipei at levels exceeding those in Trump’s first term. US-Taiwan cooperation is a major point of contention for China, which routinely holds military exercises near the island.

China considers Taiwan part of its sovereign territory. Xi has stated that reunification with Taiwan is “inevitable,” adding that Beijing does not rule out the use of force to bring it back into the fold.