Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun

The facts are very clear: There is no longer a so-called "ROC president" in the world. Anyone who swindles and deceives others by using such an identity is going against the tide of history and will only bring shame upon themselves, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Guo's remarks were made in response to media inquiries over Taiwan regional Lai Ching-te's planned visit to Eswatini, which was "forced to cancel" after the relevant countries revoked the necessary flight permissions. Taiwan regional authorities claimed that countries such as Mauritius and Madagascar took this action only because they were subjected to "economic coercion" by the Chinese mainland.

Guo stated that all 53 African countries except Eswatini have established diplomatic relations with China. Together with the African Union, they adopted the Beijing Declaration at the 2024 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).  

"They have reiterated on many occasions that they firmly uphold the one-China principle, there is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and they firmly support all efforts by the Chinese government to achieve national reunification," Guo said.

The relevant countries' adherence to the one-China principle fully conforms to international law and the basic norms governing international relations. China highly appreciates this, said the spokesperson.  

"The one-China principle represents the will of the people, the trend of the times, and the cause of justice. No one can stop the historical trend that China will ultimately achieve reunification," Guo said.  

The separatist schemes of the "Taiwan independence" secession forces are nothing but a mantis trying to stop a chariot; they are doomed to fail and will perish by their own actions, the spokesperson added. 

Global Times