Beijing rejects Lai’s ‘bizarre’ wish to have dinner with Xi
Beijing has rejected as “bizarre” and “deceitful” a suggestion by Taiwanese presidential hopeful William Lai Ching-te that he would like to dine with President Xi Jinping to talk about peace.
“Isn’t it bizarre for someone who has labelled himself as a ‘pragmatic Taiwan independence worker’ to say something like that?” Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Council, said yesterday.
Lai – the incumbent vicepresident who is running for president in January as the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate – told a group of students in Taipei on Sunday that of all global leaders, he would most like to have dinner with Xi.
Beijing, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, has vowed to attack the island if it ever declares formal independence from the mainland. It has also said that it is willing to hold peace dialogue with any party from Taiwan as long as they abandon their proindependence stand.
Speaking at a news conference in Beijing, Zhu said Lai’s suggestion was “deceitful” if he was not prepared to change his proindependence view.
She said peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region would only be maintained when the island abandoned its stand on independence.
“Obstinately insisting on the pro-independence splittist stance is ignoring the hopes and interests of the Taiwanese public and will only push Taiwan to the brink of war,” she said, adding that peaceful cross-strait ties could only be attained when that stance was abandoned.
As a front runner in the initial three-party race that also includes Hou Yu-ih, New Taipei mayor from the main opposition Kuomintang, and Ko Wen-je, head of the Taiwan People’s Party, Lai has long been known for his independence-leaning position.
During his stint as premier in 2017, he openly admitted in a legislature meeting that he was a “pragmatic Taiwan independence worker”, though in recent years he has toned down his rhetoric in a bid to win support from neutral voters and the United States – Taiwan’s informal but close ally.
Answering questions from students at his alma mater, National Chengchi University, in Taipei, on Sunday, Lai said he would most like to have dinner with Xi because he wanted to tell him to “chill out a little and not put everyone under so much pressure”.
“People’s well-being is the most important thing and peace benefits everyone,” he said.
When asked for her comment on Lai’s dinner remarks, Beijing’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a press conference on Tuesday that Taiwan was part of China and did not have a so-called vice-president.
“This is not about foreign affairs and I have no comment. If the DPP authorities really care about peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the key lies in upholding the one-China principle,” she said.