MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. Tensions between Beijing and Taiwan will turn white-hot after the election of a new head of the island’s administration, Alexey Maslov, the director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at the Lomonosov Moscow State University, has told TASS.
The candidate from the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan Lai Ching-te won the race for the post of the island’s new leader with 40.05% of the votes.
As Maslov, an expert of the Valdai international discussion club, noted, one should not expect the creation of new economic and humanitarian ties between the island and Beijing.
"It is obvious that the relations will turn white-hot. Moreover, Lai Ching-te will be preaching all sorts of slogans of strengthening independence," he said.
"The most important thing here is that there should be no strengthening of separatist sentiment in terms of, for example, holding a referendum or attempts to bring Taiwan as a full-fledged state into various UN administrative structures. This would certainly cause an extremely negative reaction from Beijing, up to and including armed clashes," Maslov warned.
US pressure
Maslov remarked that there was no direct US interference in the election, but Washington has been exerting information pressure on Taiwan.
"The US over the past two years and especially over the past month has been very actively indulging in speculations about Beijing's threat to Taiwan and hyping up the situation around the need for strengthening military, defense and other ties with the United States. In this respect, of course, Taiwan was under pressure," the analyst said. "This is precisely why a majority of Taiwanese, about 40%, voted for a representative from the Democratic Progressive Party, which advocates tighter interaction with the US, stronger defenses, the maximum degree of independence and so on."
"As for the more moderate positions of the Kuomintang and other parties, they failed to receive such support. Of course, the US played a key role here," Maslov pointed out.
At the same time, the visit of a delegation of former high-ranking US officials to Taiwan timed for the election was a gesture aimed at strengthening the positions of the island's chief executive, Maslov said.
"Undoubtedly, this should be seen as a token of recognition of Taiwan's sovereignty. The Taiwanese leader gained a firmer foothold. Along with this, there will obviously be a discussion of how far the escalation can go. Neither the PRC nor Taiwan wish an armed clash, given that it would ruin bilateral trade and trading relations in general in the world. In this regard, I think there will be a discussion of how to keep Taiwan’s position in balance, Maslov said.
Election in Taiwan
On January 13, Taiwan held the elections of the head of the island's administration and members of the Legislative Yuan (parliament). The incumbent deputy chief of the administration, representative of the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan Lai Ching-te was elected as the new leader. He will take office in May.
Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after being defeated in the Chinese Civil War. Beijing considers Taiwan to be one of China’s provinces. Currently, 12 countries recognize Taiwan as a state in its own right and maintain diplomatic relations with it: Belize, the Vatican City, Guatemala, Haiti, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu, and Eswatini.