Sébastien Le Belzic / Photo credit: Pedro PARDO / AFP 06:05, January 12, 2024

The presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan will be held this Saturday, January 13 in a very tense context with Beijing claiming sovereignty over the island. All the more so as the Democratic and pro-independence candidate is declared the winner. China accuses the United States of interfering in the election.

China is calling on the United States "not to interfere" in Taiwan's presidential election on Saturday, January 13. It must be said that Beijing considers this island of 23 million inhabitants as an integral part of its territory. As a result, the likely victory of Democratic candidate William Lai, who defends Taiwanese independence and rapprochement with the United States, according to the latest polls, worries the Chinese side.

"THE red line not to be crossed"

"Taiwan is at the heart of China's core interests and is THE red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations. We urge the U.S. to abide by the one-China principle," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said.

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For its part, Beijing supports the other candidate, the Kuomintang, who advocates a rapprochement with the communist regime. China on Thursday even called on Taiwanese voters to make "the right choice". Namely, that of unification under penalty, she threatens, of military intervention. Beijing also called the frontrunner a "grave danger." "Frankly, Beijing should stop meddling in other countries' elections and hold its own," Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on social media X.