Taiwan Presidential Frontrunner Says No Plans to Change Island’s Formal Name

TAIPEI (Reuters) – The main candidate to be Taiwan’s new president, Vice President William Lai, stated in an interview on Tuesday that he has no plans to alter the island’s formal identify, however reiterated that Taiwan is “not subordinate” to China.

Beijing dislikes of Lai for earlier feedback saying he’s a “sensible employee for Taiwan independence” – a purple line for China, which views the democratically ruled island as a part of its territory.

Lai has repeatedly stated that he’s not looking for to alter the established order and that he’s merely stating a truth: that Taiwan is already an unbiased nation known as the Republic of China, its formal identify, and that solely Taiwan’s individuals can determine their future.

“We should abide by the reality – which is what I imply by pragmatism – which is Taiwan is already a sovereign, unbiased nation known as the Republic of China. It’s not a part of the Folks’s Republic of China,” he stated in an interview with the Bloomberg information company. “The ROC and PRC should not subordinate to 1 one other. It’s not essential to declare independence. The ROC (Taiwan) isn’t subordinate to the PRC.”

The defeated Republic of China authorities fled to Taiwan in 1949 after shedding a civil battle with Mao Zedong’s communists, who established the Folks’s Republic of China.

“The present identify, based on our structure, is the Republic of China,” Lai stated, based on a transcript revealed by his marketing campaign workforce.

“And in respect to unifying Taiwanese society, President Tsai has used the time period Republic of China (Taiwan) to explain our nation. I’ll proceed to take action sooner or later,” he added. “There aren’t any plans to alter the identify of our nation.”

Taiwan goes votes on its new president in January. President Tsai Ing-wen can’t run once more after serving two phrases in workplace.

Lai is in Paraguay for the inauguration of that nation’s new president. Paraguay is one among solely 13 nations to keep up formal ties with Taipei.

He transited by way of New York on his method there, drawing anger from China, which stated he was each a separatist and “bother maker”, and is due again in Taipei on Friday after stopping over in San Francisco.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard. Modifying by Gerry Doyle)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.