Communist China Is Not Taiwan’s Motherland, Taiwan President Says

Taiwan is a ’sovereign and independent country,' Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said.

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te delivers his inaugural speech after being sworn into office during the inauguration ceremony at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei on May 20, 2024. Sung Pi-lung/The Epoch Times

TAIPEI, Taiwan—Democratic Taiwan is older than Communist China and thus it is wrong for Beijing to call itself the motherland, according to the island’s President Lai Ching-te.

Lai made the comments during a speech at a gala at the Taipei Dome on Oct. 5, ahead of Taiwan’s National Day on Oct. 10. Taiwan, officially called the Republic of China (ROC), celebrates its 113th birthday on this year’s National Day. The People’s Republic of China (PRC), the official name of mainland China under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), turned 75 on Oct. 1.