Could the coronavirus drag Beijing and Taipei towards conflict?
- Lifted by US support for its presence on world stage and empowered by voters at home, Taiwan’s pro-independence government continues face-off with Beijing
- Opposing Taipei is the ‘one-China’ principle, but analysts say there must be compromise between neighbours before stand-off becomes confrontation
First it was residual anti-mainland sentiment from a fiercely fought presidential election in January.
Now disagreement between Beijing and Taipei over the repatriation of Taiwanese from the epicentre of a deadly coronavirus outbreak is piling pressure on already strained relations across the Taiwan Strait.
Analysts said that failure to resolve such disputes could turn stalemate into confrontation, with Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, winning a second four-year term as the island’s leader in a clear rejection of the pro-Beijing Kuomintang.
The repatriation dispute erupted when Beijing ignored Taipei’s request to airlift about 500 people from Wuhan, despite allowing various countries to allow such flights.
Mainland China regards Taiwan as its province, not a country in its own right, so rescues would be a matter for Beijing to decide. This view extended to the island’s relationship with the World Health Organisation (WHO) as Taiwanese scientists asked to be allowed to help develop a strategy to tackle the coronavirus.
While countries petitioned the WHO to let Taiwan take part in its talks, Beijing sent 247 Taiwanese home on February 3.
But Beijing came under fire from the island when one passenger on the flight tested positive for the virus.