China is a real security threat and hypocritically claims to uphold the United Nations' principles of peace, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said, rejecting comments made by a top Chinese diplomat at the Munich Security Conference.
China considers democratically governed Taiwan to be part of its territory, a claim that the Taipei authorities reject, saying that only the people of Taiwan can decide their future.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, speaking at an annual security conference on Saturday, warned that some countries were "trying to separate Taiwan from China," accused Japan of escalating tensions over the island and stressed the importance of respecting the United Nations Charter, Reuters reports.
Lin stated in a statement that, viewed through historical facts, objective reality, or international law, Taiwan's sovereignty has never belonged to the People's Republic of China.
He said Wang "bragged" about advocating for the goals of the UN Charter, while blaming other countries for regional tensions.
"In reality, China has recently engaged in military provocations in surrounding areas and has repeatedly, openly, violated the principles of the UN Charter on refraining from the use or threat of force," Lin said. This, he added, "once again exposes a hegemonic mindset that does not follow up its words with actions."
The Chinese military, which operates around Taiwan daily, conducted its latest round of massive war games near the island in December.
High-ranking Taiwanese officials, such as Lin, were not invited to attend the Munich conference.
China states that Japan "returned" Taiwan to Chinese rule at the end of World War II in 1945 and that challenging this means challenging the post-war international order and Chinese sovereignty.
The government in Taipei says the island was handed over to the Republic of China, not the People's Republic of China, which did not yet exist at the time, and that Beijing therefore has no right to claim sovereignty.
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