Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
Any Chinese military action in response to stopovers in the U.S. by Taiwan Vice President William Lai would be an attempt by China to interfere in the island’s elections, Lai said during a trip to Paraguay.
Taiwanese officials say China could launch military drills this week, using Lai’s stopovers in the United States as a pretext to intimidate voters ahead of an election next year and make them “fear war”.
China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has an particular dislike of Lai who has in the past described himself as a “practical worker for Taiwan independence”. He is the front-runner to become the next president in January’s election.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday in Paraguay, where he arrived via New York, Lai said such U.S. transits were routine and China had no cause to use them as an excuse to “verbally and militarily intimidate Taiwan”, the island’s official Central News Agency reported.
“If China uses the transits as an excuse to again launch verbal and military intimidation or other threatening methods, it just confirms international media reports that China is attempting to intervene in Taiwan’s election with military threats,” the news agency cited Lai as saying.
Lai, however, said he had confidence in Taiwan’s people.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Tuesday it had yet to see any large-scale Chinese manoeuvres near the island.
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