India delivers a message to China by sending good wishes to Taiwan -

New Delhi: Tsai Ing-wen, the Taiwanese leader adopting an aggressive stand that Taiwan is not a Chinese territory and an independent country, has regained power as President, with a victory in the elections held in Taiwan. The Indian representative was present for her swearing-in ceremony function, virtually. The Indian leaders expressed confidence that the Indo-Taiwan ties will only strengthen in the coming times. Before this, in 2016, the Indian representatives had not attended her swearing-in function. But the Indian stand has changed this time, and India has seemingly delivered a message to China, who is engaged in aggressive activities, through this action.

The Democratic Progressive Party won the general elections held in Taiwan with a thumping majority. Therefore, Tsai Ing-wen, the leader of the party, was once again sworn in as President. Because of the closure of air traffic, 92 representatives from 41 countries marked their ‘Virtual Presence’ in the swearing-in function. India was represented, at the function, by Members of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi and Rahul Kaswan. Whereas, Sohang Sen, the President of the India-Taipei Association, was present for the function in capital Taipei.

Meenakshi Lekhi, while speaking to Tsai Ing-wen, reiterated that India and Taiwan both are democratic countries. Lekhi expressed confidence by stating that freedom, democracy and respect of human rights are the principles of Indian as well as Taiwanese democracy. Since the last few years, cooperation between India and Taiwan is flourishing in trade, investments and other sectors and this will only increase in the time to come. Whereas, India delivered good wishes by saying, ‘let President Tsai Ing-wen be a successful President of Taiwan.’

Before this, Ing-wen took over as the President in 2016. At that time, India had avoided participating in the swearing-in ceremony. But there have been major upheavals on the global stage in the last four years, and the virtual presence of the Indian representatives for the swearing-in ceremony only demonstrates that. Moreover, India referring to Taiwan as a country is a warning to China. This is a major jolt delivered by India to the Chinese ‘One China’ policy. China has not openly objected to the presence of Indian representatives at the swearing-in ceremony. But China criticised the presence of representatives of 41 countries for the swearing-in ceremony through a single statement.

Anger against China is raging on the global level for hiding information regarding the Coronavirus pandemic. Despite this, the Chinese activities in the South China Sea and Taiwanese Gulf have not been stopped. Chinese leaders have advised the government to attack Taiwan and take it over. Against this background, the United States has issued a warning to China by increasing military movements in the region. In the last week, US aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea, and a fleet of Lancer bombers is patrolling both these marine regions. Over and above this, the United States has approved the sale of torpedoes worth USD 180 million to Taiwan. This announcement coming at the time of swearing-in of President Tsai Ing-wen becomes significant.