Beijing slams Taiwan's deputy head as 'complete troublemaker'

Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, attends a regular news briefing, Beijing, May 31, 2023. [Photo/people.com.cn]

A mainland spokeswoman on Thursday slammed Taiwan's deputy head Lai Ching-te, who is expected to transit through the United States later this month on his way to and back from Paraguay, as a "complete troublemaker."

Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks after the island authorities announced on Wednesday that Lai, who is also the Democratic Progressive Party's 2024 island leadership candidate, will stop over in New York and San Francisco on his way to and from Paraguay as part of his seven-day trip.

Zhu said that Lai's purpose of his transit is to rely on the US to seek "independence" and to fulfill his "Taiwan independence" promise of "walking into the White House."

"It will ultimately damage the interests of the people on the island and undermine the peace in the Taiwan Strait," she said, adding that facts will prove that Lai is a "complete troublemaker."

Zhu said that the mainland is firmly opposed to Lai's activities in the US for any cause and in any form, and firmly opposed to any form of official exchanges between the US and China's Taiwan region.

"The US should abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques," she said.