China has hit out at Taiwan over its humanitarian aid to war-torn Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia. Addressing a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, accused Taiwan of using the Ukraine war to latch onto the issue for its own purposes and take advantage of others' difficulties.
"The Democratic Progressive Party (Taiwan's ruling party) authorities are using the Ukraine issue to validate their existence and piggyback on a hot issue, taking advantage of others' difficulties," Fenglian said.
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“Their attempts to incite confrontation and create hostility through political manipulation will not succeed,” she further added.
The Chinese spokesperson's remarks come a day after the Taiwanese foreign ministry announced a second donation of $11.5 million to Ukraine to help refugees.
The first donation was worth $3.5 million.
"During this conflict, the Taiwanese people have shown boundless compassion," Taiwan foreign minister Joseph Wu had earlier said.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen donated one month of her salary for relief efforts in Ukraine.
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{{/usCountry}}At the start of this month, Taiwan had announced that it will be joining SWIFT sanctions against Russian banks. SWIFT- which stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is an international payments network. A ban on this network has restricted Russia's access to financial markets globally.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine - which began February 24 as a 'special military operation' - has evoked widespread sympathy in Taiwan.
Till now, China has not ruled out the use of military force to take Taiwan - a region it claims - and has kept up pressure with frequent military incursions into Taiwanese air space.
(With agency inputs)