Taiwan hails 'largest democracy' India; blasts China for issuing diktat to Indian media

The Chinese Embassy in New Delhi wrote an open letter to Indian media to not “recognise” Taiwan by covering the “National Day of Taiwan”, triggering a strong response from the self-governing island. In an unusual letter to the Indian media, the embassy said that the People's Republic of China is only China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory.

The embassy said that One-China policy is the long-standing official position of the Indian government and all countries with diplomatic relations with Beijing should firmly honour their commitment to it. It stressed that these facts are recognised by UN resolution and constitute the universal consensus of the international community. 

“We hope Indian media can stick to the Indian government's position on the Taiwan question and do not violate the One-China principle. In particular, Taiwan shall not be referred to as a ‘country(nation)’ or ‘Republic of China’ or the leader of China’s Taiwan region as ‘President’, so as not to send the wrong signals to the general public,” the letter read.

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'GET LOST!'

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs blasted China’s indirect threat to Indian media and said that India is the largest democracy on Earth with a vibrant press and freedom-loving people. The ministry wondered whether China is hoping to march into the subcontinent by imposing censorship. It said that India media will have only one reply, “GET LOST!”

Beijing has become more assertive on the reunification of Taiwan with China under “one country, two systems” which has threatened Taiwan’s claim of sovereignty. The self-governing island republic considers itself as sovereign while China claims the province as Beijing’s territory under its one-China policy and has been pushing to implement the Hong Kong system in Taiwan. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen has frequently said that the island wants dialogue with China but can not accept Beijing’s “one country, two systems” policy which undermines the “cross-strait status quo.”

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