Mainland China accuses Taiwanese leader William Lai of escalating hostility

Beijing has accused Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te of escalating hostility after his recent comments that the People’s Republic of China could not be the island’s motherland.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Lai had not only tried to deceive and intimidate the Taiwan people, harming their interests, but was covering up his efforts to provoke separatism and damage cross-strait relations.

“Lai Ching-te’s Taiwan independence fallacy is just old wine in new bottles, and again exposes his obstinate stance on Taiwan independence and his sinister intentions of escalating hostility and confrontation,” Zhu said.

On Saturday, Lai pointed out that the Republic of China – the official name of Taiwan – was founded before the People’s Republic of China, which celebrated its 75th anniversary last week.

“In terms of age, it is impossible for the People’s Republic of China to be the motherland of the people of the Republic of China”, he said.

“Quite the opposite, the Republic of China may very well be the motherland of people [aged] above 75 in the People’s Republic of China.”