'Peace or War': Chinese Official Hints Threat at Taiwan | China In Focus

welcome to China in Focus I'm Tiffany Meyer our top story military threats trade sanctions and fake news a look at how Beijing is using all means to influence taiwan's vote coming up this Saturday house Speaker Mike Johnson met with taiwan's new deao ambassador to the US just days before the Island's presidential election what's the speaker's message to Taiwan the US and the Chinese regime are relaunching military talks here why officials say communication is crucial and a top us lawmaker urging trade limits on a foreign Tech firm with ties to China more details on a letter sent to Commerce Secretary Gina [Music] Rondo peace or War for Taiwan a senior Chinese official sending a threat Wednesday saying the choice Taiwan makes for its new president would mean the difference between peace and War prosperity and decline the official is John jjuan he's in charge of a quas official body that handles ties with Taiwan the island will hold its presidential election this Saturday both China and the US are watching closely as the new president would determine how the handles its relations with both Powers the Chinese Communist Party sees Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to take it under control by force that's despite never having ruled it Washington is bound by law to sell arms to Taiwan so it can defend itself Beijing is upping its pressure on the island as election years China and the US held their first military talks in two years earlier this week and China told the US it would never compromise on Taiwan a pentagon readout highlighted the importance of maintaining communication that's to prevent competition from turning into conflict on top of this China also launched a satellite over taiwan's airspace Beijing also sent aircraft ships and balloons near the island the White House said it raises questions about beijing's end goals I'll tell you this we believe that uh that the Democratic institutions of Taiwan need to be respected uh we want to see a free and fair and transparent election and we're willing and standing by to work with whoever the people of Taiwan uh elect into their government taiwan's current vice president William lie is leading the polls lie has been known for his staunch defense of the islands sovereignty the next candidate in line is huoi mayor of New Taipei City he opposes taiwan's Independence and has avoided speaking out about China trailing behind him is kenj the former mayor of taip hey he said that he believes Beijing remains a problem and that problem needs to be taken care of without sparking conflicts military threats trade restrictions and fake news a look at China's alleged attempts to sway taiwan's upcoming presidential race here's more Taiwanese politicians and experts are accusing Beijing of interfering in taiwan's upcoming presidential election right now the Taiwan government is most concerned about Tik Tok a report by AFP says disinformation targeting candidate William Li is seeing a surge on Tik Tok Li is taiwan's current vice president and the front runner in the race Beijing wants William lie out instead it favors hoo e the candidate from opposition party quing toown Tik tok's parent company is based in China ND reached out to Tik Tok for comment but did not hear back before airtime according to Taiwan one's security officials China's intelligence agency generated hundreds of videos attacking current president haying when using AI anchors officials said China's goal is to damage William Li's popularity both Li and Tai are members of the democratic Progressive Party Taiwanese fore Minister Joseph U said China wants to use Taiwan as a testing ground adding if the regime can shape the result of taiwan's Elections it will try to apply the tactics on other countries China also invited local Taiwanese politicians on paid visits to the mainland Taiwan has opened a dozen investigations into such trips Beijing also threatened trade sanctions if taiwan's ruling party supports Taiwanese Independence on the military front China flew aircraft in balloons near Taiwan it also launched a satellite over the island triggering a nationwide emergency alert according to a recent observation the Chinese military is still carrying out regular training and maintaining military intimidation near taiwan's Waters we will continue to pay close attention to it and take relevant measures about 20 million Taiwanese are expected to head to polls this Saturday William Li is leading in the polls for now though the race remains tight house Speaker Mike Johnson meeting with taiwan's new de facto ambassador to the US Tuesday it comes just 4 days before taiwan's presidential election speaker Johnson said Washington stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Taiwanese people the defense of Taiwan is very important to us we want to deter the Chinese Communist party and any military provocation US Congress stands with our friends and stands for democracy and the principles that you all are trying to advance Alexander You replaces Shi Kim as taiwan's new deao ambassador to the US Kim is running to be Vice President of Taiwan Beijing is lashing out at the visit a foreign Ministry spokesperson accusing the US of sending the wrong signal the Chinese regime staunchly opposes relations of any kind between Taiwan and foreign Nations even though the US doesn't have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan Washington is the Island's most important arm supplier over 19 million Taiwanese will head to the polls this weekend to choose a new president but their decisions have been shadowed by threats from Beijing the Communist Regime has framed the vote as a choice between War and Peace yet some voters say they aren't letting the pressure get to them watch War doesn't have any advantages I really hope that the candidate who can lead Taiwan to be a normalized country can be chosen there are so many people living on this island our d diretion has to be even more firm to say that it is us who are inhabiting this island and whoever wants to come and assault this island will face our resistance this idea must become more clear this is an election to out uphold our own identity to preserve what we have and to try to improve uh in the next year or years this is really our only election since December China's communist leader shid Jinping has twice stressed the importance of what he called reunification with Taiwan though he didn't mention how over the past year China has held multiple rounds of War games near the island including missile tests taiwan's vice president and presidential FrontRunner William lie have urged voters not be swayed by China's threats in this election China's intentions are very clear they are attempting to use War and Peace to influence the out come of the election aiming to establish a pro-china regime thus the people of Taiwan will realize China's intentions then you will use your sacred vote to exert the power of democracy and prevent China's intervention a fight for Democratic survival for Taiwan the Battleground isn't just at the polls what messages are reaching Taiwan voters from across the straet here's the inside scoop the Communist party has always been very evil Taiwan is the beacon of freedom and democracy in Asia do not believe in the Communist Party the power they hold is stolen deceived and manipulated do you still believe in them Beijing has been ramping up its pressure on the island and is accused of trying to sway public opinion ahead of the election there one way is through dumping false information onto Taiwanese social media and internet platforms but even across the Taiwan straight some people inside Main Mainland appear to have had enough of the Communist Party here's what some of them told NTD mainland China has only one choice only one voice Taiwan has multiple voices I hope Taiwan can preserve its place of Freedom the last spark of resistance the people in mainland China are suffering there's no freedom of speech or democracy taiwan's future will be far worse than that of Hong Kong if they Trust mainland China other comments called on Taiwanese people to use their ballots carefully people of Taiwan your votes are not just for yourselves they shine a light on us here giving us a glimmer of hope I'm saying this with tears in my eyes taiwan's democracy and economy are booming a contrast to Hong Kong since the CCP tightened its control over the city Global Investors have been busy pulling out their funds to send elsewhere we'll keep you updated as election day near on the island with just a handful of days left before taiwan's presidential election a Chinese satellite flew over the island but a m transation to English suggested a missile was headed toward the island the error immediately sparked Buzz online let's take a closer look thank you the [Music] gentl every Taiwanese received an air rate alert on their phone Tuesday the English translation below mistakenly called it a missile the island defense department later apologized noting the launch was actually a Chinese satellite taken up by a rocket taiwan's ruling party Democratic Progressive Party said it would encount the incident as part of what it's calling Chinese interference in the upcoming election the quing tong opposition party lashed out over that statement accusing the DPP of using the situation as as a quote election tool taiwan's current vice president Le chinga is the dpp's candidate for president he's known for his tough attitude towards China and for favoring strong us Taiwan relations his main opponent supports closer relations with Beijing joining us to talk more about taiwan's high stakes elections is Grant Nim retired Marine curdle an author of when China attacks Grant thank you to for joining us it's great to have you back on the show well thank you glad to be here now the world is entering these elections whether Taiwan the US and eler with Wars already happening we have the one in Ukraine the one in the Middle East and tensions continuing to escalate around Taiwan now what's at stake in terms of this year's elections we've already got two Wars that were dragged into two and a half if you count the Red Sea uh and what's coming is the potential for a war in Asia and the concern of course is that China will attack Taiwan at some point uh China will be calculating or calibrating off of the Taiwan election uh to see who which candidate wins if it's the candidate that wants nothing to do with China now or forever they are going to be very inclined to play rough and if it's the opposition candidate who's generally considered more pro-china softer on China uh they might hold back a bit and wait and see what though that guy can deliver but at the same time xiin Ping's been very clear about what he intends and that is to get CH get Taiwan one way or the other expanding on that so will beijing's end goal change depending on the candidate or does that stay the same I it's the same you know it really doesn't make a huge amount of difference the timing of what comes May differ and it is possible that a certain if the opposition candidate wins in Taiwan he may try to sort of reach some deal or that somehow kind of delivers Taiwan to to Beijing and moves it away from the United States now on that note how will taiwan's presidential election results impact the upcoming US presidential election will it oh I don't know that it will it just my initial reaction uh and a lot of people vote in the United States based on their personal circumstances and not so much foreign policy and by that I mean you know I think a lot of people are afraid and I am that we're going to have riots again in the streets like we did in 2020 these dial up riots and many uh Democrat politicians uh NGS and other groups actually encouraged and supported these riots it's almost just they dial them up for political purposes which they do and I think people know that's coming so if that happens you've got more chaos in the United States uh and it's going to be hard for an Administration or the country at large to get interested in going to war over Taiwan so you can see it from China's perspective and they'd like the more chaos the better Grant youim thank you so much for your time my pleasure thanks for having me the US and China are resuming military talks that discussions were put on hold after former house Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in the summer of 2022 officials say the talks are crucial to preventing competition between the two nations from escalating into direct conflict the talks were held at the Pentagon Tuesday representatives from both sides talked about arranging future meetings between their Military Officers there were also discussions about the potential scheduling of a meeting between defense secretary Lloyd Austin currently hospitalized and the newly appointed Chinese defense minister dong Chun dong is a former Naval Commander he took on his role in late December after his predecessor lean Fu was removed from office a call from a top Republican pushing for trade limits on a foreign Tech firm over ties to China House china select committee chairman Mike Gallagher just penned a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Rondo asking her to consider sanctioning UAE based firm group 42 and 13 related entities he pointed to its quote expansive ties to other Chinese and UAE based companies already blacklisted by Washington including Chinese Tech Giant wuwei Beijing genomix Institute and dark matter a cyber security firm the letter notes that those firms are accused of aiding the Chinese Communist regime's human rights abuses and may play a role in boosting Chinese military advancement sanctioning the entities would force American companies to get Federal permission before export reporting Goods to them Gallagher asked Rondo to respond by February 2nd a Commerce Department spokesperson said the agency would respond through the appropriate channels that's over today's China INF focus on YouTube we're now sharing a shorten version of our program here after being demonetized for more than two years if you'd like to support us consider donating find us at donorbox.org ch- in- Focus or subscribe to our partner platform epic TV where you can watch our full episode episod here's what to look out for in our second half NASA suffering major setbacks in its efforts to return astronauts to the Moon well China claims its moon mission is on track what's in store for the US China Space Race and China became the world's top car exporter last year an expert sheds light on how the regime did it more on that after the break here on China in Focus thanks for watching China in Focus I'm Tiffany Meyer see you [Music] tomorrow