Beijing says Taiwan presidential hopeful William Lai will sell out the island to the US

Liu, however, argued that Lai’s support for “the cross-strait status quo” was actually support for “so-called ‘peaceful separation’ and ‘one China, one Taiwan.’”

Taiwan’s would-be leader said he has no plans to declare independence, and offered a “four-pillar plan for peace” to ensure stability on the self-ruled island, which the embassy said was only a plan to “sell out Taiwan to the US” and “show his loyalty to his American patron”.

Lai’s election platform includes building up Taiwan’s deterrence in the face of growing military threats from Beijing, ensuring the island remains a hi-tech powerhouse, ensuring supply chain security, forming partnerships with democracies around the world, and promoting “steady and principled” cross-strait leadership.

In Tuesday’s piece, however, Beijing said Lai’s proposal to “build up Taiwan’s deterrence” was in reality a way to “resist by force the motherland’s reunification”.

“Squandering 2.6 per cent of local GDP [to purchase US weaponry], the DPP is turning the island into a powder keg,” Liu wrote.