US Senator John Cornyn deletes erroneous Taiwan tweet blasted by Chinese media
- The lawmaker was called a ‘dotard’ after incorrectly posting that the US has 30,000 troops stationed on the island ‘today’
- Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin says if Cornyn’s tweet is true, China must ‘immediately launch a war to eliminate and expel US soldiers’
US Republican Senator John Cornyn has deleted a tweet in which he said wrongly that the United States currently has 30,000 troops stationed in Taiwan, a claim that spurred Chinese media to call him a “dotard”.
Cornyn included the statistic late on Monday in a tweet about the numbers of US troops based around the world “today”, including in Afghanistan before the final withdrawal of US forces from that country, which is now under Taliban control.
The US military did have forces in Taiwan before the United States formally established ties with communist China in 1979. Those troops were removed over time, including under diplomatic agreements.
The Global Times, a Chinese state-controlled tabloid, pounced on the Texas senator’s error as evidence of the irresponsibility of US politicians.
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“The tweet saying US is stationing ‘30,000 troops’ in China’s Taiwan island could be a jaw-dropping mistake or hype from a ‘dotard’ senator, but it is shocking enough to see how irresponsible American politicians are on crucial issue of Taiwan Straits,” the tabloid said on Twitter.