In some of his strongest rhetoric yet amid worsening cross-strait ties, Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te has labelled China a “foreign hostile force”.
He said Taiwan had “no choice but to take even more proactive measures” as a result, as he announced a raft of new national security measures, including reinstating a military court system and tightening the residency criteria for those from China, Hong Kong and Macau.
In response to Lai’s remarks, Chinese authorities called him a “destroyer of cross-straits peace” and a “creator of crisis”.
China claims the self-ruled Taiwan as its territory but Taiwan sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland.
China was quick to respond to Lai’s statement, with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua said China would have “no choice but to take decisive measures… [if] ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces dare to cross the red line”.
“Those who play with fire will surely be burned.”
This is not the first time Lai, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is seen as pro-independence, has incurred Beijing’s wrath. He was previously labelled a “troublemaker” ahead of the polls, and Chinese state media even suggested he should be prosecuted for secession.
Speaking to reporters after a high-level national security meeting on Thursday, Lai also warned of China’s growing espionage efforts.
President Lai said China had “taken advantage of Taiwan’s freedom” to recruit different members of society, including current and former armed force members, organised crime groups and the media to “divide, destroy and subvert us from within”.
Taiwanese authorities charged 64 people with spying for China last year – a three-fold increase from 2021 – Lai claimed, adding that the majority of them were current or former military officials.
To counter China’s attempts to infiltrate and spy on the military, Lai said he planned to restore the military court system to “allow military judges to return to the frontline… to handle criminal cases involving active-duty military personnel”.
Taiwan had in 2013 abolished the military court system after it came under fire for its opaque handling of the death of an army conscript.
Lai also called on authorities to “provide entertainers with guidelines on conduct while working in China”, adding that this would prevent China from pressuring stars to behave in ways that “endanger national dignity”.
