Beijing Pressures Tsai Ing-Wen by Cutting Diplomatic Ties with Taiwan

In late May, after Tsai Ing-Wen was elected as president of Taiwan, she said after adopting three guide dogs that her pets would not have an animal war. Tsai Ing-Wen is a known cat-lover also and owns two cats.

However, unlike her personal household, the president has a “war” with China because of her refusal to endorse the idea of a single Chinese nation. As a result, Beijing just cut off diplomatic relations with Taipei, reported the New York Times.

Taipei Times reported that before the cutting of diplomatic ties, Taiwan protested Cambodia’s handing over to China fraud suspects who are Taiwanese. Of 39 suspects whom Cambodia sent to Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, 25 are Taiwanese.

For not endorsing the 1992 Consensus and not disavowing calls for Taiwanese independence, Tsai Ing-Wen is now experiencing greater pressure from mainland China. An Fengshan, spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, stressed that the Consensus is the political basis for the One China principle.

However, despite China’s unilateral action, Tung Chen-yuan, government spokesman in Taiwan, said, “We hope Taiwan and the mainland can continue to have benign interaction, which is good for both sides.”

Political observers see Beijing’s move as a “warning shot across the bow.” Center for a New American Security senior adviser Patrick Cronin said, “China will deny carrots and signal red lines for President Tsai as she grapples with her fundamental challenge, which is righting the economy.”

Although the two countries agreed in 1992 to consider themselves as part of a single Chinese nation, the different interpretation of “single Chinese nation” is causing the problems between Beijing and Taipei.