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Taipei, Democrats against China’s attempts to interfere in vote
DPP spokesman accuses Beijing, of "working in secret and in public, for the re-election of the nationalist Ma Yong-jeou."
Taipei (AsiaNews / Agencies) - China is working in secret and in public, for the re-election of nationalist President Ma Ying-jeou in presidential elections in Taiwan, denounced Democratic Progressive Party spokesman, Chen Chi-mai. He claims that "there are five projects, public and secret, that Beijing is pursuing in order to win the Kuomintang."
China is concerned about the upcoming consultations, scheduled for January. In 2008, after 8 years of Democratic presidency - led by Chen Shui-bien, now in jail on corruption charges - the former mayor of Taipei, a nationalist, (see photo) came to power This was marked by a policy of greater openness towards Beijing, culminating with the signing of a free trade agreement. Moreover the issue of the islands’ independence has never been mentioned.
Taiwan has been de facto independent since 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek moved the Government of the Republic of China to Taipei: the Government was recognized as legitimate until the seventies, when it lost his seat at the UN in favor of Beijing. China, however, considers the island a renegade province to be reclaimed and has always "warned" the world "not to interfere in the matter."