BEIJING: The Chinese mainland slammed Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te’s “motherland fallacy”, saying it exposed his steadfast “pro-independence” stance and his intention to escalate hostility across the Taiwan Strait.
Lai, who took office in May, has sparked global concerns with his “two-state” theory on the mainland and Taiwan, leading to doubts about his ability to stabilize the situation in the Strait, experts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait said.
During a recent event in Taipei, Lai made comments about the concept of “motherland”. He claimed that “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”, adding that “the ROC could be considered the motherland for people aged 75 and above in the PRC”.
“If anyone in Taiwan wants to say happy birthday to the PRC, please do not call it the motherland,” Lai said, after some Taiwan actors had recently expressed birthday wishes for the PRC.
Those included Taiwan actress Annie Yi, who posted on Weibo expressing her immense honor on Oct 1 after attending the 75th anniversary reception of the PRC in Beijing. She shared her photos and the invitation letter, writing, “My dearest motherland, happy birthday.”
Lai’s remarks have sparked widespread debate and drawn criticism from various sectors from both sides. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
