The first sparks fly between the United States and China after the elections in Taiwan

There is no truce in the Strait. On the day of the electoral hangover in Taiwan, the first diplomatic sparks have already occurred between the United States and China, the two superpowers whose interests collide in this territory. The presidential elections, won on Saturday by Lai Ching-te, the candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the least liked option in Beijing, have shown the commitment to continuity on this self-governed island that China considers an inalienable part of its territory and that has its main ally in the United States.

Following Lai's victory, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement on Saturday congratulating the winner and showing the White House's willingness to work with him and the rest of the Taiwanese parties to “advance our shared interests and values.” ”, and “promote our long-standing unofficial relationship”, but respecting the “one China policy”. “We trust that Taiwan will continue to be an example for all those who fight for freedom, democracy and prosperity,” he said. US President Joe Biden added briefly when questioned about the results: “We do not support independence…”.

This Sunday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry reacted angrily, ensuring that it “strongly” deplores the message from the North American Secretary of State, which “seriously violates the one-China principle” and “sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces.” of Taiwanese independence. In the note, the Foreign Ministry states that it has conveyed “serious allegations” to the US side.

The Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, warned this Sunday that any initiative in favor of Taiwan independence will be “severely punished” for “trying to divide China,” as he stated in a press appearance in Cairo. where you are visiting. “No matter what the election results are, it cannot change the basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China,” he added.

The tension, as expected, began on Saturday night, when a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese Government issued a first statement in which he stated that the results reveal that the DPP “cannot represent the majority public opinion on the island” and assured that the elections “will not prevent the inevitable trend towards the reunification of China.”

Taipei, which has also entered the dance of crossed messages, this Sunday demanded that Beijing “respect” the results of the elections. “China must face reality and abandon its efforts to pressure Taiwan,” claimed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as reported by the official CNA agency.

Meanwhile, the United States sent a presidential delegation to the island this Sunday, made up of former senior officials on a “private” trip, according to a note from the American Institute in Taiwan, the US representative office in the territory. . The delegation plans to meet with “prominent political personalities” on Monday, something they have done in previous elections.

Taiwan has received congratulations from numerous countries in the international community, from Japan to the United Kingdom, including the European Union. But it is the American statement that has aroused the ire of Beijing.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry assures that the message from the American Secretary of State violates the “one China principle and the three joint communiqués of China and the United States”, the delicate and very complex diplomatic architecture that solves the Taiwan obstacle and governs relations. between Washington and Beijing, restarted in the seventies of the last century.

The congratulations sent by Blinken “goes against the United States' own political commitment to maintain only cultural, commercial and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan,” adds the Chinese Foreign Ministry. And he affirms that the Taiwan question “is at the very center of China's fundamental interests and is the first red line that should not be crossed in relations” between the two. Beijing demands that Washington not use the island as a tool to “contain China” and urges it to “end official interactions” with the island. In the recent meeting in San Francisco between Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, he assured that Taiwan remained “the most important and most sensitive issue.”

The elected president, Lai Ching-te, who will take office on May 20, has assured that he will follow in this field the path outlined by the current president and party colleague, Tsai Ing-wen, who leaves power after overcoming the legal limit of two terms marked by the absence of communication with China, the growing tension in the Taiwan Strait and the rapprochement with Washington.

“As president, I have an important responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Lai said Saturday in his first media appearance. She stated that he would try to seek dialogue with China under conditions of “parity and dignity,” but also gave signals that he would deepen the deterrence strategy against the People's Republic initiated by the current president. “We are determined to protect Taiwan from China's continued threats and intimidation,” she said. “Between democracy and authoritarianism, we will be on the side of democracy.”

With Lai's victory, the DPP has become the first party to win a third consecutive term since the first democratic elections in 1996. Its victory dynamites China's hopes of an eventual rapprochement along the lines of the one forged during Ma's presidency. Ying-jeou (2008-2016). His party, the nationalist Kuomintang, has once again placed second in the presidential elections, although it has surpassed the PDP in the legislative elections.

China, which considers the island a rebellious province that it intends to reunify peacefully, but without renouncing the use of force if necessary, has suggested that Lai hides a secessionist tendency, which “harms” the population of Taiwan and “endangers” peace in the Strait. “In order to win more votes, Lai tries to hide the fact that, as a supporter of Taiwan independence, he is essentially a troublemaker and instigator of war,” Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office, said in November. Taiwan from the Chinese Government, according to the state press of the People's Republic.

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