Taiwan dismisses 'petty' concerns of China over US inaugural
WASHINGTON (AP) — The leader of Taiwan's delegation to the U.S. presidential inauguration dismissed as "small-minded" China's strong objections to his attendance Friday.
Former Premier Yu Shyi-kun told The Associated Press "it's hard to believe that a country with 5,000 years of history and its glorious background is so focused on this. It just shows how petty they are."
Yu was interviewed by AP after watching Trump's swearing-in. He said he had a good seat, directly in front of the ceremony at the Capitol.
The U.S. has no formal relations with self-governing Taiwan in deference to China, which claims the island as its own. However, the two maintain robust informal ties, and Washington sells Taiwan arms for its self-defense. Taiwan has sent delegations to past inaugurals.
China said it had requested Taiwan's exclusion to avoid any kind of official exchange between the U.S. and Taiwan — but it also appeared to reflect its concern that President Donald Trump could seek to redefine relations between Beijing, Taipei and Washington. Last week, Trump said in a newspaper interview that Washington's "one China policy" under which it recognized Beijing in 1979 was open to negotiation.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chuying on Friday called the Taiwanese presence at the inauguration a "publicity stunt, which aims to undermine and disrupt the China-US relationship."
Yu served as Taiwan's premier from 2002 to 2005. He is a founding member of Taiwan's independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, which currently holds the presidency and has particularly strained relations with Beijing.
He was accompanied by politicians from both the ruling party and the opposition Nationalists, and has met U.S. lawmakers including Republican Rep. Ed Royce, chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
Citing protocol, Yu would not say whether he had met with members of Trump's team. But he said Taiwan would like a free trade agreement and investment treaty with the U.S.; its support in participating in international organizations like Interpol, currently blocked by China; and stronger defense capabilities to ensure stability in the Asia-Pacific.
Speaking through an interpreter, Yu said the peaceful transfer of power in the U.S. and the fact that Trump's election rival Hillary Clinton attended Friday's ceremony offered a lesson for Taiwan's young democracy.
Asked if the communist-governed mainland should learn that lesson too, Yu said that only when there was a democratic China would there be peace in the world.
