Taiwan's vice president accuses China of attempting to influence upcoming elections
Taiwan’s vice president and front-runner in upcoming presidential elections has accused China of employing unfair trade practices that could be used to influence the voting
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s vice president and front-runner in upcoming presidential elections accused China on Friday of employing unfair trade practices that could be used to influence the voting.
William Lai, in a meeting with foreign journalists in Taipei, said China “will be hoping to interfere in the elections with all sorts of tactics." If they succeed, he said, «it will be an undermining of Taiwan’s democracy.”
His comments come after China announced on Monday that it was suspending mango imports from Taiwan, alleging that authorities had detected pests on the fruit. The trade curb is widely believed to be politically motivated.
Lai said Beijing was engaging in “unfair trade practices against our agricultural products, potentially in an effort to undermine the coming elections.”
Taiwan is due to hold presidential elections in January 2024.
Over the weekend, Beijing launched war games around Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that China claims as its own territory. China and Taiwan split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with the Communist Party taking control of the mainland.
Beijing has not renounced the use of force as a means of taking control of Taiwan. China’s political leadership sees Lai and Taiwan’s incumbent president, Tsai Ing-wen, as “separatists” and refuses to speak to them.
The military drills followed stopovers by Lai in New York and San Francisco as part of a state visit to Paraguay earlier this month. Lai decried the exercises as an attempt by Beijing to intimidate voters and influence the January elections.
The U.S.
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