In Taiwan, 19 million Taiwanese are called to the polls on Saturday January 13, with for the three parties involved in the presidential election, the question of the management of relations with neighboring China.
3 mins
With our correspondent in BeijingStéphane Lagarde
“I have no opinion on the matter, very few people will follow what is happening in Taiwan,” this Pekingese woman told us this Friday morning on her bike on her way to work, embarrassed like many in a country where we don’t vote to choose our leaders.
An embarrassment that we find on highly monitored social networks in China, where the Taiwanese elections are little covered. Most of the comments on the platforms repeat the official language hammered out in recent days at the highest level of the State.
Red line not to be crossed
“For China, the Taiwan issue is at the very heart of its fundamental interests. This is the red line that must not be crossed and we take seriously the statements of the United States which do not support the independence of Taiwan”said Liu Jianchao on Tuesday, January 9. The head of the international department of the CPC Central Committee spoke to the Council on Foreign RelationsA think tank American analyzing American foreign policy.
Often accused of interfering in the vote, China, which considers the Taiwanese question as part of its internal affairs, is passing the buck to the United States, which intends to send a delegation to the island on Sunday. “China has always firmly opposed any form of official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan. The United States should sincerely respect the one-China principle and must not interfere in any form in Taiwan’s elections »,said the spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy, Mao Ning, to avoid, she said, “ to cause serious damage to China-US relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. »
“ Elections in the Taiwan region are China’s internal affairs. Regardless of the election results, it cannot change the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China and there is only one China in the world »Mao Ning also added.
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Appeal to Taiwanese youth
A recurring speech, with variations for this 2024 election, and a message addressed to Taiwanese youth facing job difficulties and housing who might not vote for the Progressive Democratic Party – described as separatist by Beijing.
“They are forcing Taiwanese youth to prepare for the battlefield and serve as cannon fodder for Taiwan’s independence,” ensures Chen Binhua, the spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office at the Chinese State Council, following the plan to extend military service on the island. The choice offered to Taiwanese voters by Beijing is very binary: peaceful reunification or the threat of war.
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