Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says opponents of Taiwan reunification ‘will stink for 10,000 years’

Chinese foreign minister rails against Taiwan’s decision to re-elect Tsai Ing-wen as president, while state media claims ‘external dark forces’ had part in result

Tsai says Taiwan wants partnership with its neighbours

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Mainland China’s state media s “external dark forces” played a part in the election result in Taiwan. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 1:13pm, 14 Jan 2020Updated: 4:17pm, 17 Feb 2020

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Taiwan’s reunification with mainland China was inevitable and, in a rebuke against Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen’s landslide re-election, that separatists would “stink for 10,000 years”.

Tsai, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won about 57 per cent of the popular vote in the island’s presidential election on the weekend, riding a wave of wariness with Beijing’s intentions after Hong Kong’s months-long anti-government protests.

Her victory over the Kuomintang’s (KMT) mainland-friendly Han Kuo-yu has been seen as a message to Beijing and its growing efforts to isolate Taiwan on economic and diplomatic fronts.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says Tsai Ing-wen’s win will not change the inevitable course of Taiwan’s reunification with the mainland. Photo: EPA-EFE

Wang, in Zimbabwe as part of his African tour, said on Monday that Tsai’s win would not change what he called the inevitable course of Taiwan’s reunification with the mainland.

“[The one-China principle] will not change in any way because of a local election on the Taiwan island, nor will it shake despite erroneous words and actions by some Western politicians,” he said.