Beijing criticises South Korea for inviting Taiwan to democracy summit
- Representatives from Taipei have been included in all three summits, which were begun by US President Joe Biden in 2021, and mainland China has been excluded
- At the opening of the three-day conference in Seoul, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accuses China and Russia of conducting malicious propaganda campaigns
China lashed out at South Korea on Monday for hosting the Summit for Democracy and inviting Taiwan to take part in the conference.
South Korea is hosting the third democracy summit, an initiative of US President Joe Biden, which began on Monday. Similar to previous two editions, Beijing was excluded while a Taiwanese official has been invited to deliver an online message.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that the summit was using democracy as an “instrument and weapon” to draw a line based on ideology, and that China “firmly opposes” the host country’s invitation of Taiwan.
“What the world needs today is not creating divide in the name of democracy,” Lin said at a press conference.
“China sternly urges the South Korean side to abide by the one-China principle and stop providing a podium to the Taiwan independence forces,” he said.
Lin accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party of “seeking to expand the space for Taiwan independence under the guise of democracy and human rights” in participating in the event, saying such attempts would “only bring shame to themselves and are doomed to failure”.