The Taiwan government has thanked world leaders for their messages (file photo)
Taipei:
Taiwan on Thursday accused China of being “shameless” after Beijing’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations thanked the world for paying attention to the powerful earthquake that struck the island.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and claims the right to speak for it on the international stage, angering Taipei because Beijing’s communist government has never ruled Taiwan and has no say in how its leaders are chosen.
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 10 people, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Geng Shuang told a meeting on children’s rights, while another speaker referred to the earthquake in “Taiwan, China.”
He said China was concerned about the losses and had expressed condolences and provided assistance to Taiwan, according to a transcript of the speech posted by the Chinese delegation on the United Nations website.
“We are grateful to the international community for their expressions of sympathy and concern,” he added.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed anger at the remarks.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “sternly condemns China’s shameless use of the Taiwan earthquake for international awareness operations,” using Taiwanese terminology to describe China’s psychological warfare.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that this shows that China has no goodwill towards Taiwan.
Taiwan’s government has thanked governments and leaders around the world for their expressions of concern and offers of support, including the United States, which is Taiwan’s most important international supporter even though the two countries have no diplomatic ties.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
