DPP slammed for betraying nation, history

The Chinese mainland has condemned Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities for barring people on the island from attending an event scheduled on the mainland in November to mark the 160th birth anniversary of Sun Yat-sen, saying the move betrays the nation and its history.

Sun, a founding figure of the Chinese Kuomintang party and a revered revolutionary leader, died in 1925 in Beijing. His remains rest at the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province.

The commemorative event aims to carry forward Sun's noble spirit of upholding national unity and striving for national rejuvenation, Zhang Han, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday.

The event aims to unite all Chinese people, including Taiwan compatriots, in opposing "Taiwan independence" separatism and external interference and in promoting cross-Strait exchanges and integration, she added.

Recently, Taiwan's "mainland affairs council" claimed that the commemoration would promote the idea of "anti-'independence' and pro-reunification". For the first time, it issued an explicit ban on participation in the event, saying that it would deny permission to anyone wanting to travel to the mainland to attend the commemoration, including county and city heads.

Zhang, the mainland spokeswoman, accused the DPP authorities of resorting to every possible means to obstruct and restrict cross-Strait exchanges while intimidating and suppressing people in Taiwan.

The decision "exposes the vicious intentions" of the DPP authorities "to obstruct cross-Strait exchanges and suppress Taiwan compatriots, betray the nation and history, split the country and stoke confrontation across the Taiwan Strait", Zhang said.

"Their actions will inevitably meet with opposition and condemnation from all Chinese people," she added.

Despite the DPP authorities' efforts to decouple the island's industries from the mainland market, latest statistics show robust growth in cross-Strait trade and people-to-people exchanges.

In September, the value of Taiwan's exports to the mainland reached $20.6 billion, up 30.2 percent year-on-year, while its imports from the mainland totaled $13.5 billion, up 59.1 percent year-on-year, according to data released by Taiwan's finance department.

According to the General Administration of Customs, the value of cross-Strait trade reached $301.2 billion in the first nine months of 2026, up 30.3 percent year-on-year. The mainland's exports to Taiwan totaled $84.9 billion, up 37.3 percent, while its imports from Taiwan reached $216.3 billion, up 27.8 percent.

Zhang said these figures demonstrate that cross-Strait industrial and supply chains remain stable and strong, and that markets on both sides of the Strait will never be decoupled, adding that economic exchanges and shared development across the Strait are an unstoppable trend.

She emphasized that the DPP's moves to obstruct cross-Strait economic exchanges and cooperation and push for decoupling of supply chains to serve external forces are doomed to fail.

Despite the DPP's standing travel curbs, 2.49 million trips by Taiwan residents to the mainland were recorded from January to August, up 19.6 percent year-on-year, according to data released by Taiwan authorities.

Noting that attempts to prevent Taiwan residents from visiting the mainland are "absurd and futile", the spokeswoman urged the DPP authorities to abandon political maneuvering, withdraw unreasonable restrictions and facilitate cultural exchanges across the Strait.

According to media reports, the DPP authorities have rejected an application by mainland actor Zhang Linghe, who has gained popularity in Taiwan for his drama Pursuit of Jade, to hold a fan meeting on the island.

In response, the spokeswoman criticized the DPP for politicizing cross-Strait cultural exchanges, obstructing people-to-people interactions and disregarding public sentiment.