Taiwan's Presidential Candidate Has No Intention of Changing the Country's Official Name, Insists It Is Not Subservient to Beijing

Taiwanese Vice President William Lai. (Wikimedia Commons/Office of the President/Simon Liu)

JAKARTA - Taiwanese presidential candidate William Lai said he has no plans to change the island's official name, underlining Taiwan will not submit to China.

Lai, who is the incumbent Vice President of Taiwan, has repeatedly said that he is not trying to change the status quo, just stating the fact that Taiwan is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name, and only the Taiwanese people can decide their future.

"We must adhere to the truth - what I mean by pragmatism - that is Taiwan is already a sovereign and independent country called the Republic of China. It is not part of the People's Republic of China," he said in an interview with the Bloomberg news agency, as reported by Reuters on August 15.

"ROC and PRC are not subordinate to each other. There is no need to declare independence. ROC (Taiwan) is not subordinate to PRC," he emphasized.

The Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949, after losing a civil war to the communist Mao Zedong, who later founded the People's Republic of China.

"The current name, according to our constitution, is Republic of China," Lai said, according to a transcript published by his campaign team.

"And with regard to unifying the Taiwanese people, President Tsai has used the term Republic of China (Taiwan) to describe our country. I will continue to do so in the future," he added. "

There are no plans to change the name of our country."

Beijing disliked Lai because of previous comments saying he was a "practical worker for Taiwan independence" - a red line for China, which views the democratically ruled island as part of its territory.

It is known, Taiwan will hold presidential elections in January. Incumbent Tsai Ing-wen cannot seek re-election, having served two terms.

President Tsai herself has repeatedly offered talks with China, which Beijing has rejected, with Lai saying the door to dialogue is always open as long as there is "equality and dignity".

"We don't want to be enemies, we can be friends. And we want to see China enjoy democracy and freedom, just like us," he said.

"However, until China abandons the use of force against Taiwan, we must strengthen our military capacity," he said.

Lai himself was in Paraguay for the inauguration of the country's new president, one of 13 countries that have official ties with Taipei.

He transited through New York on his way there, sparking outrage from China, which says Lai is a separatist and a "troublemaker", and will return to Taipei on Friday after a stopover in San Francisco.