Taiwan tells China to ‘back off’ after official denies marine boundary

Taiwan has demanded that China “back off” and accused it of threatening peace after a Beijing official rejected the existence of a largely respected marine boundary following recent incursions.

The Taiwanese foreign minister, Joseph Wu, urged Beijing on Tuesday to “return to the civilised international standards” after a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said there was no so-called median line in the Taiwan Strait “as Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory”.

Wu told reporters: “The median line has been a symbol of preventing military conflicts and maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait for many years. The Chinese foreign ministry’s comment is equivalent of destroying the status quo.”

“I call on the international community to condemn the CCP [Chinese Communist party] for its dangerous and provocative words and deeds threatening peace … China must back off,” he added in a tweet.

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China considers Taiwan part of its territory, to be absorbed into the mainland by force if necessary, even though it has been self-ruled for more than seven decades.

Beijing has ratcheted up pressure on the democratic island since the 2016 election of the president, Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects its view that Taiwan is part of “one China”.

Last year, Taiwan accused China of violating a long-held tacit agreement after its fighter jets, for the first time in years, crossed the median line of the waters that separate the two sides.

Washington’s increased outreach to Taiwan under Donald Trump has become yet another flashpoint with Beijing, as the US and China clash over a range of trade and security issues, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, Chinese fighters and bombers twice breached Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) while a high-ranking US diplomat was on a rare trip to Taiwan that provoked anger in Beijing.

Taipei’s defence ministry said it scrambled fighters again on Tuesday after two Chinese Y-8 anti-submarine planes entered its south-west ADIZ, the fifth such incursion in six days.