By Ben Blanchard
TAIPEI (Reuters) -China has no right to decide whether or not Taiwan is a country given it chooses its own government, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said on Wednesday, adding that he would be happy to shake the hand of his Chinese opposite number in friendship.
China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games, saying the island is one of its provinces with no right to be called a state.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te and his government strongly reject that view, and have offered talks with China multiple times but have been rejected. China calls Lai a “separatist”.
Asked by Reuters what he would say to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi should they ever meet, Lin said that given the opportunity he would definitely shake hands with him.
“What the nature is of cross-Taiwan Strait relations can be discussed, but we are all human. First, extend the hand of friendship. If he shook my hand, that would be a good start,” he said at a press briefing to mark the first anniversary of Lai taking office. “If he takes his hand back, that’s his problem.”
Taiwan’s formal name is the Republic of China, the name of the government which in 1949 fled to the island after losing a bloody civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists, who established the People’s Republic of China.
“Whether or not Taiwan is a country is not up to Wang Yi, nor the People’s Republic of China, to say. The whole world sees us as a country. We choose our governments democratically. It is our business what our name is.”
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The chances Lin and Wang could meet are low. Neither government recognises the other, officials do not visit each other, and Taiwan is not a member of most international bodies due to China’s objections.
Lai on Tuesday reiterated an offer to talk to China, saying he sought peace but that the island must also boost its defences.
China responded by saying his comments were a “two-faced tactic” that were a “waste of effort and doomed to fail”.
Taiwan’s government has warned that Beijing could mark the anniversary with more military drills.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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