If China Wants Taiwan, It Should Also Reclaim Land From Russia, President Lai Says

If China's claim on Taiwan is based on territorial integrity, it should also aim to reclaim land signed over to Russia by the last Chinese dynasty in 1858, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te stated in an interview with Taiwanese media, Reuters reported.

Lai contended that China’s real motive is to challenge the rules-based international order and achieve regional hegemony, particularly in the Western Pacific. I Photo: 賴清德Lai Ching-te X

Lai remarked, "China's intention to attack and annex Taiwan is not due to anything a person or political party in Taiwan says or does. It is not for territorial integrity that China wants to annex Taiwan."

He further pointed out that if territorial integrity were the true reason, "Why doesn’t China take back the lands occupied by Russia, which were signed over in the Treaty of Aigun in 1858?" Lai added that Russia is currently at its weakest point.

The Qing dynasty ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 under another "unequal" treaty, and at the end of World War II in 1945, the island was handed over to the Republic of China, whose government later fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war with Mao Zedong's communists.

Lai contended that China’s real motive is to challenge the rules-based international order and achieve regional hegemony, particularly in the Western Pacific.