Taiwan's President Reply To China's Threat To Death Separatist: China Has No Sanctions

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te/DOK Presidential Office Building via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - Democracy is not a crime and autocratics is a true "crime", Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said.

This statement was made by Lai after China threatened to impose the death penalty in extreme cases for Taiwan's "hard" independence separatists.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory, has not hidden its dislike for Lai, who took office last month. CHina called Lai a separatist', and conducted war exercises shortly after his inauguration.

On Friday, June 21, China stepped up its pressure on Taiwan by issuing new legal guidelines to punish those deemed to support the island's formal independence, although Chinese courts have no jurisdiction over the democratically-ruled island.

When asked about China's actions, Lai reiterated his sympathy for the recent floods in southern China before answering.

"I want to emphasize: democracy is not a crime; it is autocracy that is a real crime. China has absolutely no right to impose sanctions on the Taiwanese people just because of the position they hold. What's more, China has no right to fight for the rights of the Taiwanese people. across the border, "he said.

"Therefore, according to China, anyone who does not uphold'reunification' is a supporter of Taiwan's independence," Lai continued.

"I also want to call on China to face the existence of the Republic of China and make exchanges and dialogues with the democratically and legitimate elected Taiwanese government," he said, using Taiwan's official name.

If this is not done, the relationship between Taiwan and China will only become more and more tenuous.

Taiwan said since Thursday, June 20, there has been a sharp increase in Chinese military flights as Beijing conducts a "coup combat readiness patrol" near the island.

Between Thursday and Sunday, Taiwan said it detected 115 Chinese military aircraft operating nearby, at a distance of 31 nautical miles (57 km) from the southern tip of the island.

Taiwan said for the past four years China had carried out routine military activity around the island as part of a pressure campaign for grey zones'.

Taiwan's annual Han Kuang war drill next month aims to emulate the real battle as close as possible given the rapidly increasing threat from China, a senior official said.

Lai rejected Beijing's claim to sovereignty and said only the Taiwanese could determine their future. He has repeatedly offered talks with China but was rejected.

China says every Taiwan move to declare formal independence will form the basis for attacking the island.

The government in Taipei said Taiwan had become an independent country, the Republic of China, and had no plans to change it.