Channel News Asia
Date: 15 Feb 2018
TAIPEI: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen wished “friends” in China a happy Lunar New
Local residents stand next to a dog-shaped flower arrangement at a traditional flower market in Taipei on Feb 13, 2018, ahead of the start of the Lunar New Year on Feb 16. (Photo: SAM YEH/AFP)
Year on Thursday (Feb 15), drawing a surprisingly warm reaction from Chinese state media which is more used to disparaging her as a dangerous separatist.
Taiwan is one of China’s most sensitive issues and a potentially dangerous military flashpoint. China considers the self-ruled island its sacred territory and a wayward province and it has never renounced the use of force to bring it under Chinese control.
China has become increasingly hostile to Taiwan since Tsai, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, won election in 2016, believing she wants to push for the island’s formal independence, a red line for China. [FULL STORY]