Taiwan's DPP warned to keep out of SAR's affairs

The mainland's Taiwan affairs authority said the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan, the ruling party of the island, has played a disgraceful role in the recent chaos in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, strongly condemned the DPP on Tuesday over remarks made on Monday by Cho Jung-tai, DPP chairman, saying Cho slandered the principle of "one country, two systems".

"He was trying to stir up trouble in Hong Kong. He also wanted to smear the mainland and the principle of 'one country, two systems' so as to gain votes for the coming election. Such an attempt is doomed to fail," Ma said.

He told the party and its authorities to stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs.

"I would like to tell the DPP and its authorities to withdraw their 'black hands' from Hong Kong immediately. Otherwise they will suffer the consequences," he said.

With the firm support of the central government, the HKSAR government and all sectors in the city are fully capable of stopping the violence, restoring order and maintaining long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong, he added.

Zhu Songling, a professor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Beijing Union University, said the DPP's interference in Hong Kong affairs was intended to draw voters' attention to pro-secession politicians in the coming leadership election, scheduled for January.

Since the DPP was defeated in the island's mayoral elections in November, Taiwan leader Tsai Ingwen's support has been decreasing, Zhu said. "She has no choice but to play the cross-Straits card, denigrating the principle of 'one country, two systems', to show ideological differences with the mainland," he said.

"In the long run, Taiwan compatriots will recognize that the DPP is pursuing its own selfish interests and benefits from the election at the cost of damaging the essence of cross-Straits relations," Zhu added.

"The mainland authority has sternly warned the island to stop stirring up trouble in Hong Kong. If the island keeps interfering in Hong Kong affairs, the mainland will definitely take further action," he said.