TAIPEI — China is doubling down on threats against Taiwan ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in the island democracy, raising the specter of further attempts to sway the key Jan. 13 vote.
Song Tao, a senior Chinese official in charge of relations with Taiwan, said last month that relations across the Taiwan Strait face “two paths of peace and war, prosperity and decline — two choices of prospects.” Zhu Fenglian, spokesman for Beijing’s agency responsible for Taiwan affairs, on Oct. 25 said the Taiwanese people have to “recognize the pros and cons and distinguish between right and wrong” when they vote.