Independence is not an option, China tells Taiwan

Taiwanese voters returned President Tsai to office in a firm rebuke to Beijing’s authoritarian rule
Taiwanese voters returned President Tsai to office in a firm rebuke to Beijing’s authoritarian rule
CARL COURT/GETTY IMAGES

Beijing set the stage for bitter confrontation with Taiwan this morning by insisting that the island would always remain part of China despite the newly re-elected president saying that it was already independent.

Ma Xiaoguang, of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said: “It’s a dead end for anyone who wants to do Taiwan independence. We have the firm will, sufficient confidence and ample capabilities to thwart plots of Taiwan independence in any form.”

Tsai Ing-wen, 63, was returned as president on Sunday in a landslide victory. She said yesterday that Taiwan, which has been self-governed since 1949, was already independent.

“We don’t have a need to declare ourselves an independent state,” she told the BBC. “We are an independent country already and we call ourselves