China: ‘Taiwan is about sovereignty, not democracy.’

Beijing, Apr 7 (EFE).- The issue of Taiwan is not about “democracy” but related to China’s “sovereignty,” the Chinese government said on Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that some countries were playing up “the false narrative of democracy versus authoritarianism,” conniving with and supporting separatist forces for “Taiwan’s independence.”

Without naming any country but obliquely referring to the United States and its Western allies, Mao said some nations were “using Taiwan to control China.”

“This approach is very dangerous and impossible to succeed,” she said.

The spokesperson said the future of Taiwan was in the reunification with the mainland.

“The differences between the systems on both sides of the strait are not an obstacle to reunification, let alone an excuse for division.”

She said ‘one country, two systems’ was conducive to Taiwan’s long-term stability.

“It is our basic policy for resolving the Taiwan issue and the best way to achieve national reunification.”

Earlier, China imposed sanctions against Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States, after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s high-profile visit to the US.

Tsai met with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy in California.

China alleges that Hsiao Bi-khim sought US support for the island’s independence agenda to provoke confrontation in the Strait of Formosa.

China also announced sanctions against the Hudson Institute and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for “providing a platform” to Tsai to “participate in separatist activities.”

The library hosted the Tsai-McCarthy talks, while the Hudson Institute gave the Taiwanese leader a leadership award.

The meeting between McCarthy and Tsai ruffled many Chinese feathers in a reminder of the angry response to then-House leader Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan trip last year.

In August 2022, Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan angered Beijing.

In response to Pelosi’s trip, China conducted military drills, encircling the self-ruled island, and sent warplanes across the median live that divides the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing also suspended contact with the US over several important issues.

Taiwan is one of the key sources of tension between China and the US, mainly because Washington is Taipei’s key arms supplier and could be its greatest military ally in the event of a war with China.

China considers the self-ruled island part of its territory.

Beijing says it reserves the right to use force to reunify Taiwan, even as a peaceful merger would be its first choice.