China lashed out at South Korea on Monday for hosting the Summit for Democracy and inviting Taiwan to take part in the conference.
South Korea is hosting the third democracy summit, an initiative of US President Joe Biden, which began on Monday. Similar to previous two editions, Beijing was excluded while a Taiwanese official has been invited to deliver an online message.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that the summit was using democracy as an “instrument and weapon” to draw a line based on ideology, and that China “firmly opposes” the host country’s invitation of Taiwan.
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“What the world needs today is not creating divide in the name of democracy,” Lin said at a press conference.
“China sternly urges the South Korean side to abide by the one-China principle and stop providing a podium to the Taiwan independence forces,” he said.
Lin accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of “seeking to expand the space for Taiwan independence under the guise of democracy and human rights” in participating in the event, saying such attempts would “only bring shame to themselves and are doomed to failure”.
He repeated that Taiwan is an inseparable part of the Chinese territory, and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China.
Beijing considers Taiwan as a part of China and to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US and South Korea, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and has stepped up support to Taiwan politically and militarily as its relationship with Beijing frays.
The Summit for Democracy began in 2021 and the second edition was convened in 2023, both as virtual events. Despite Beijing’s opposition, Taiwan was invited both times.
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The third conference was hosted by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and attended by representatives from more than 30 countries.
At the opening of the three-day conference, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused China and Russia of conducting malicious propaganda campaigns.
“As authoritarian and repressive regimes deploy technologies to undermine democracy and human rights, we need to ensure that technology sustains and supports democratic values and norms,” he said.
Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s minister of digital affairs, who participated online in the two previous summits, also represented Taiwan at this week’s conference. The first summit was also attended by Hsiao Bi-khim, who was elected as the island’s vice-president in January.
Tang made a pre-recorded presentation for a panel discussion on Monday afternoon, focusing on how Taiwan uses co-creation and technology to “successfully defend growing cyberattacks and cognitive warfare”, according to a statement by Taiwan’s foreign ministry.
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