BEIJING — Attempts to block Beijing’s goal of bringing Taiwan under its control are like “stretching out an arm to block a car,” China said in its latest rhetorical broadside against the self-governing island republic’s independence-minded president.
Spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office An Fengshan accused Tsai of harming relations between the sides and using the welfare of the Taiwanese people as a “poker chip” for the sake of electoral gains.
China cut off contacts with Tsai’s government shortly after her election and has deployed a carrot-and-stick strategy to undercut her support among the island’s voters. That includes inducements for Taiwanese to live and work in China by offering them local legal status, appealing especially to young creatives and technology workers frustrated by Taiwan’s small market and stagnant wages.
Those include president and ruling Communist Party Xi Jinping, who commands the armed forces, and in a January address renewed the threat of military action against the island. He received further endorsement from members of the Beijing-appointed Taiwan delegation to this month’s annual meeting of China’s ceremonial legislature, none of whom come from Taiwan or have any more than tenuous connections to the island.
China’s strategy and impatience with Tsai’s administration among Taiwanese voters seems to be having an effect. The DPP took a beating in November’s local elections, and public opinion surveys put her approval rating at around 25 percent.
Support for Taiwan has remained strong under President Donald Trump and the island’s request for new warplanes and other armaments have been seen as receiving a friendly reception in Washington, which is at loggerheads with Beijing over trade and other issues.