JOSEPH BOSCO
In 2024, as with all Taiwan’s elections for president since 1996, the Chinese Communist Party repeatedly warned the people of Taiwan not to elect a candidate unwilling to accept China’s goal of eventual political, economic and military control over Taiwan.
In six of the eight elections, including the last three, the people of Taiwan defied Beijing’s instructions, this time giving the ruling Democratic People’s Party an unprecedented third consecutive term.
To make matters worse, from Beijing’s expansionist perspective, Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, has described himself as a “pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence,” an outcome that China has declared a red line that would trigger war across the Taiwan Strait.
Xi Jinping’s regime has labeled Lai a “troublemaker” and a “separatist.” His election may have been the last straw for Xi, who took power in 2012 declaring “the Taiwan question cannot be passed from one generation to another,” echoing Henry Kissinger’s 2007 warning to Taiwan that “China will not wait forever.” But, once again, the people of Taiwan had the temerity to ignore the Chinese Communists’ instructions.
Beijing’s initial peeved reaction to this impudence was to object in diplomatic channels to those countries that congratulated Taiwan on another successful demonstration of its democratic vitality. It has been stewing since January over an appropriately strong measure of “punishment” to impose upon the Taiwanese themselves and to warn the new Lai administration that it is on a dangerous path.
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