Mainland slams Lai's remarks as separatist, provocative

Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te's assertion that the island is "of course a country" was a blatant separatist declaration that incited cross-Strait confrontation, a Chinese mainland spokesman said on Monday.

Chen Binhua, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, condemned Lai's comments — made during the first of a planned 10-part speech series titled "Uniting the Country" — as filled with lies, deception, hostility and provocation.

Chen accused Lai of deliberately distorting history to promote what he called "Taiwan independence" fallacies, saying the speech served Lai's political aim of launching a recall campaign against opposition party lawmakers.

"The speech was a flawed mishmash of secessionist fallacies," Chen said, adding that it exposed Lai's stance in favor of separatism.

He stressed that historical facts and legal documents show that Taiwan has been an inseparable part of China since ancient times.

In his remarks, Lai distorted key concepts, ignored the outcomes of World War II, and misrepresented international legal instruments such as the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, Chen said. Lai had claimed that "Taiwan does not belong to China" and advocated for "mutual non-subordination."

"This flagrantly violates international law and constitutes a direct challenge to the authority of international law," Chen said.

"No matter how hard Lai tries, he cannot change the legal and factual reality that Taiwan is part of China, nor can he stop the historical trend toward national reunification," he added.