Here are 10 points to know

1. The Chinese Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its claim to the breakaway territory as part of its own in its first official response to the presidential elections in neighbouring Taiwan. CNN reported on Saturday that the ministry said any changes made to the island nation would not affect Taiwan’s status as “part of China.” The report quoted the spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying that no matter “whatever changes take place in Taiwan, the basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China, will not change.”

2. As tensions between Beijing and Taipei remain high, Xi has repeatedly affirmed China’s stance that the island-nation is a part of mainland China and that it must be reunified, by force if necessary.

3. Earlier, before the presidential elections in Taiwan, President Xi Jinping, in his year-end address, asserted that Taiwan will be reunified with China, Fox News reported.

4. While listing out his priorities after being elected Taiwan’s new supreme leader, Lai Ching-te on Saturday said he will work to protect his country from continuing threats and intimidation from China, CNN report stated. “I will act by our democratic and free constitutional order in a manner that is balanced and maintains the cross-strait status quo. At the same time, we are also determined to safeguard Taiwan from continuing threats and intimidation from China,” the newly elected President was quoted as saying by CNN.

5. The DPP candidate won the much-anticipated Taiwanese presidential polls and is set to be the next President. This marks the historic third-straight victory for the DPP after Tsai Ing-wena completed her two terms as Taiwan’s President since 2016.

6. Speaking of the election results, according to the Central Election Commission report, Lai received over 5 million votes and more than 40 per cent of the vote share after counting was done from over 90 per cent of polling stations as of 7:45 pm (local time).

7. Lai had previously served as Tainan’s mayor and was also appointed as Tsai’s vice president in 2020.

8. In Beijing’s view, Lai, 64, is a separatist and “troublemaker through and through” for comments he first made in 2017 as premier about being a “worker” for Taiwan’s formal independence – a red line for Beijing. The next year he told parliament he was a “practical worker for Taiwan independence”, causing one Chinese newspaper, the widely read Global Times, to call for China to issue an international arrest warrant for Lai and prosecute him under China’s 2005 Anti-Secession Law.

9. However, Lai, who won Saturday’s election had repeatedly said during the campaign that he wanted to keep the status quo with China. “We don’t want to become enemies with China. We can become friends,” Lai had said. 

10. Amid all this, Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Saturday it had detected two Chinese balloons crossing the Taiwan Strait in the previous 24 hours, one of which flew over Taiwan island. Prior to this, on Friday, the defence ministry that it detected five Chinese balloons flying over the Taiwan Strait over the past 24 hours, one of which crossed the island. The ministry this month accused China of threatening aviation safety and waging psychological warfare on the island’s people with the balloons, days before key Taiwanese elections on January 13.

(With inputs from Reuters, ANI)

Milestone Alert!
Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it’s all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Published: 14 Jan 2024, 08:38 AM IST