In some of his strongest language however amid worsening cross-strait relationships, Taiwan head Lai Ching-te has labelled China a “foreign angry power”.
He said Taiwan had” no choice but to take yet more strategic methods” as a result, as he announced a raft of fresh national safety measures, including reinstating a defense court system and tightening the residency requirements for those from China, Hong Kong and Macau.
In response to Lai’s notes, Chinese officials called him a “destroyer of cross-straits serenity” and a” publisher of issue”.
China claims the self-ruled Taiwan as its territory but Taiwan sees itself as different from the Chinese mainland.
China was quick to respond to Lai’s speech, with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office director Chen Binhua said China had have” no choice but to take decisive steps …]if] ‘ Taiwan independence ‘ separatist forces dare to traverse the dark line”.
” Those who play with fire will certainly get burned”.
This is not the first time Lai, whose Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP ) is seen as pro-independence, has incurred Beijing’s wrath. He was recently labelled a” agitator” ahead of the surveys, and Chinese state media also suggested he may be prosecuted for independence.
Speaking to reporters after a high-level federal safety meeting on Thursday, Lai even warned of China’s growing espionage work.
President Lai said China had “taken benefits of Taiwan’s freedom” to attract different members of society, including current and former military force members, organised crime groups and the media to “divide, ruin and undermine us from within”.
Taiwanese authorities charged 64 people with spying for China last year- a three-fold increase from 2021- Lai claimed, adding that the majority of them were current or former military officials.
To counter China’s attempts to infiltrate and spy on the military, Lai said he planed to restore the military court system to “allow military judges to return to the frontline… to handle criminal cases involving active-duty military personnel”.
Taiwan had in 2013 abolished the military court system after it came under fire for its opaque handling of the death of an army conscript.
Lai also called on authorities to “provide entertainers with guidelines on conduct while working in China”, adding that this would prevent China from pressuring stars to behave in ways that “endanger national dignity”.
His comments come as Taiwanese authorities earlier criticised Taiwanese celebrities who shared social media posts calling for Taiwan to be “returned” to China.
Taiwanese actors and singers looking to advance their careers in China’s lucrative entertainment industry have come also under increasing pressure to publicly adopt a pro-Beijing stance on the issue.