Chinese State Media Focus Fire on Lai Qingde: "Advocating Independence and Inciting Hatred"

State-owned media in mainland China launched a concentrated attack, criticizing Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te for openly advocating Taiwan independence and inciting hatred.

On the 21st, the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, the People's Daily, devoted an entire page (page 4) to emphasize the "One China" principle and firmly oppose Taiwan independence. In its commentary, the People's Daily accused President Lai of "using his speech to incite hatred against the Chinese people." It also published a statement from Chen Bin-hua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, saying, "Taiwan independence is a dead end, and tolerating and supporting Taiwan independence will end in failure."

Additionally, in a "Statement on the 5.20 Speech of the Taiwan Leader," it criticized, "Stubbornly adhering to the position of Taiwan independence and strongly promoting the error of separatism, inciting cross-strait confrontation," and said, "Relying on foreign forces to pursue independence and attempting to use force to achieve independence."

In the statement, spokesperson Chen emphasized, "Our will to resolve the Taiwan issue and realize national reunification is unwavering, and our ability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity is immortal," adding, "We will never tolerate any form of 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities."

Furthermore, the People's Daily condemned Lai Ching-te, who calls himself a Taiwan independence activist, as "the worst villain who has long been active under the banner of peace," accusing him of "pursuing independence by all kinds of despicable means while hypocritically and deceitfully boasting about cross-strait dialogue and exchanges."

The military media outlet, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Daily, also cited evaluations from senior officials the previous day, stating that President Lai's speech was "a provocation and a threat to regional peace and stability," and stressed that he is fomenting China's division and regional chaos.

However, the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense assessed that military activity was at a low level over the 24 hours until 6 a.m. on the 21st, showing some restraint in direct military pressure. According to the Ministry of National Defense, during this period, PLA aircraft did not cross the median line (the midpoint of the Taiwan Strait), and the PLA navy only operated eight vessels near the island.