BEIJING, May 20. /TASS/. Separatist movements for Taiwan independence are doomed to failure no matter under what pretext they are promoted, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a briefing.
"Taiwan's independence is a dead end. I want to emphasize that Taiwan's independence and separatism are doomed to failure no matter under what pretext or flag they are promoted," the spokesman said, commenting on the statements of the head of Taiwan's administration Lai Ching-te. Ching-te called on Beijing to "fairly face the fact of the existence of the Republic of China" and "respect the Taiwanese people's choice."
On the morning of May 20, Lai Ching-te took office as Taiwan's leader. On January 13, the island held elections for chief executive and deputies to the Legislative Yuan (parliament). Lai Ching-te, who was previously the island’s deputy head, won with 40.05% of the vote. His election opponent was Hsiao Bi-khim, who assumed the post of deputy chief executive of the island's administration.
Lai Ching-te is a representative of the Democratic Progressive Party. His term in the new position will last four years. He succeeds Tsai Ing-wen, who served as Taiwan's chief executive for two four-year terms (2016-2024). After Tsai Ing-wen's administration took office, relations between Beijing and Taipei began to deteriorate. She refused to recognize the "one China" principle and opposed the Kuomintang's path of gradual rapprochement with Beijing.
Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Since then, the island has retained the flag and some other attributes of the former Republic of China that existed on the mainland before the Communists came to power. Official Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China.