Taiwan ‘already independent’, President Tsai Ing-wen warns China

China must accept that Taiwan is already independent, President Tsai Ing-wen has said, warning Beijing that any attempt to invade the democratic island would be “very costly”.

Tsai won a second term over the weekend with a record 8.2 million votes, an outcome that was seen as a forceful rebuke of China’s ongoing campaign to isolate the self-ruled island.

China’s leadership had made no secret of its desire to see Tsai turfed out because she and her party refuse to acknowledge their view that the island is part of a “one China”.

Beijing regards Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary — especially if it declares independence.

Source: Hindustan Times