My Take | Beijing’s nearest security threat isn’t in Taipei – it’s in North Korea
- Compared to the pragmatic tone from Taiwan’s new leader, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un presents a far more potent security threat for Beijing
- With Russia’s help, Kim poses a bigger danger to China and the world than William Lai
Such a furious response was, in a large part, well anticipated. Beijing has made no secret of its disdain for Lai, portraying him as a “dangerous separatist” and his presidential election victory in January as a grave challenge to its desire for reunification.
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Furious mainland China slams Taiwanese leader’s ‘blatant’ call for independence
It is understandable that Beijing feels anxious about the self-ruled island’s new leader, who, compared to his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, appears more vocal about the issue of independence, a matter the Communist Party sees as a “red line”.
For Beijing, those words may sound more provocative than what Lai has said in the past, including an assertion that there is no need to declare formal independence because Taiwan is a de facto independent state.
But flexing military muscles over Taiwan amid heightened tensions in the South China Sea between Beijing and Manila could push China’s fragile detente with the United States to the breaking point and raise the spectre of an unwanted armed conflict.