Beijing urges Taiwanese to ‘stand on right side of history’ ahead of presidential election

The head of mainland China’s Taiwan Affairs Song Tao Office repeats Beijing’s warnings against independence and says voters should follow the right path

The island will select a new president later this month and William Lai Ching-te from the independence leaning DPP is currently ahead in the polls

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The DPP’s candidate William Lai(left) is leading the KMT’s Hou-Yu-ih (centre) and the Taiwan People’s Party’s Ko Wen-je (right). Photo: AFP

Published: 5:36pm, 2 Jan 2024

Taiwan’s people have been urged to “stand on the right side of history” by opposing independence in a new year’s message from the head of Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office delivered less than two weeks before its presidential election.

Song Tao said Taiwanese people should get cross-strait relations back on the “correct path of peaceful development” in a message published in the state-backed journal Cross-strait Connections and the party-controlled China News Service.

“Taiwan compatriots should observe the overall situation, shoulder great responsibilities, consider the bigger picture and follow the right path,” Song said.

“They should firmly stand on the right side of history, promote the return of cross-strait relations to the correct track of peaceful development, and advance the process of the peaceful reunification of the motherland.”

He said China will guard peace in the region by “firmly and persistently supporting patriotic and reunification forces within the island and opposing Taiwan independence and external interference”. He did not say who he regarded as “patriotic” or as “separatists”.

Taiwan will elect a new president on January 13 in a contest that is widely seen as determining the course of the island’s relationship with the mainland and US-China relations over the next few years.