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China claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory
and also claims the right to speak for it on the international
stage, to the fury of Taipei given Beijing's communist
government has never ruled the island and has no say in how it
chooses its leaders.
On Wednesday, after the 7.2 earthquake hit eastern Taiwan,
killing 10 people, China's Deputy Permanent Representative to
the U.N., Geng Shuang, mentioned at a meeting about children's
rights that another speaker had brought up the quake in "China's
Taiwan".
China is concerned about the damage and has expressed
condolences to Taiwan and offered aid, he said, according to a
transcript of his remarks carried on the Chinese mission to the
U.N.'s website.
"We thank the international community for its expressions of
sympathy and concern," he added.
Taiwan's foreign ministry expressed anger at the remarks.
The ministry "solemnly condemns China's shameless use of the
Taiwan earthquake to conduct cognitive operations
internationally", it said, using Taiwan's normal term for what
it views as Chinese psychological warfare.
This shows China has no goodwill towards Taiwan, the ministry
added.
Taiwan's government has already thanked governments and leaders
around the world for their messages of concern and offers of
support, including from the United States, the island's most
important international supporter despite the lack of diplomatic
ties.
The defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949
after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists, who
established the People's Republic of China with its capital in
Beijing.
Taiwan's formal name remains the Republic of China.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Angus MacSwan and
Philippa Fletcher)
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