Mainland spokesperson slams Taiwan leader's "independence" remarks

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Monday slammed a speech made by Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te on Sunday, saying it had exposed Lai's stubborn separatist stance.

The speech, full of lies and deceptions, deliberately distorted and fragmented history, blatantly peddled the fallacies of "Taiwan independence" and attempted to create grounds to concoct an "independence" narrative, said Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, when responding to a media query.

Lai deliberately distorted the history of Taiwan and disregarded the fact that successive Chinese governments have governed the island, Chen said.

Lai ignored how compatriots from Taiwan and the mainland have worked together to resist foreign aggression and realize Taiwan's return to the motherland, and his failure to acknowledge this has betrayed the patriotic legacy and the sacrifices of Taiwan's people and martyrs, the spokesperson noted.

In his address, Lai willfully misinterpreted UNGA Resolution 2758 and claimed that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are "not subordinate to each other," which presented an open challenge to the authority of international law, Chen said.

Lai also promoted the "mainland threat," obstructing exchange and cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, which goes entirely against the will of the public, Chen stated.

Chen stressed that all historical, factual and legal evidence demonstrates that Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China since ancient times, and that the island has never been a state.

The one-China principle is a basic norm in international relations and represents the prevailing consensus of the international community, Chen added.

No matter what tactics Lai employs, he can neither alter the legal fact that Taiwan is a part of China nor shake the global commitment to the one-China principle. Nor can he obstruct China's irreversible reunification, Chen noted. ■