Taiwan’s President Slammed China For Threatening Taiwanese People With The Death Penalty For Independence
Lai's statement came after China threatened to impose the death penalty for "diehard" supporters of Taiwanese independence involved in "particularly serious" events.
Taiwan's new president, William Lai, said that China “has absolutely no right to punish Taiwan's people” for favoring the island nation’s independence.
Lai's statement came after China, on Friday, June 21, intensified its pressure on Taiwan by threatening to impose the death penalty for "diehard" supporters of Taiwanese independence involved in "particularly serious" events.
Under China’s latest guidelines, Chinese courts should “severely punish Taiwan independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession crimes in accordance with the law, and resolutely defend national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity“, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, Reuters reported.
“China has absolutely no right to punish Taiwan's people just because of the positions they hold. What's more, China has no right to go after Taiwan people's rights across borders,” the 64-year-old president said at a news conference at the presidential office in Taipei on Monday, June 24.
In response to a question from the press regarding the new guidelines, Lai said he wanted to stress that democracy is not a crime; autocracy is the real evil.
Lai also cautioned China “to face up to the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name) and have exchanges and dialogue with Taiwan's democratically elected, legitimate government," adding that if this fails to happen, ties between the two countries will become much more alienated.
Meanwhile, the US strongly condemned the recent, increasingly alarming statements made by China, saying, “threats and legal warfare will not achieve a peaceful resolution to cross-strait differences.”
Taiwan has been democratically governed since 1949, but China claims it as its own territory and has not ruled out forceful reunification.
Lai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has continually upheld Taiwan's sovereignty, insisting that only Taiwanese people can decide their future.
He has also hinted at resuming talks and exchanges with Beijing, but China has repeatedly rebuffed this.
China has called him a "dangerous separatist" and slammed his inaugural address as a "confession of Taiwan independence," after Lai called on China to stop threatening Taiwan.
Isha Jain
Kassy Cho
