On March 24, the Washington Post published Bi-khim Hsiao's Op-ed ‘Ukraine has inspired Taiwan. We must stand against authoritarianism.' using the Ukraine issue to distort the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China. Minister Counselor Zhu Haiquan, Chief of the Political Section of the Chinese Embassy in the US, wrote a letter to the Editorial Board of the Washington Post to give a solemn response to the Op-ed. Part of the letter was published on April 1, and the full text is as follows:

The Taiwan question and the Ukraine crisis are totally different in nature. Ukraine is sovereign state, and the Ukraine crisis is a conflict between sovereign countries, while Taiwan is part of China's territory, and the Taiwan question is a Chinese internal affair.

Taiwan has been and will always be an inalienable part of China's territory. It is not an independent sovereign state. The 1943 Cairo Declaration states that Taiwan shall be restored to China.  The 1945 Potsdam Proclamation reaffirms that the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out. Since the People’s Republic of China was founded and became the sole legal Government representing the whole of China, Taiwan has indisputably become part of China. The UNGA Resolution 2758 has further confirmed Taiwan's status. These are ironclad facts. In the video call with President Xi Jinping on March 18, President Joe Biden reiterated that the United States adheres to the One-China policy and does not support "Taiwan independence".

The claim that Chinese mainland "threatens" Taiwan cannot hold water at all. People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese bonded by blood ties. Millions of Taiwanese live and work in the Chinese mainland. Why would family members threaten each other? As Taiwan's largest export market and source of its biggest trade surplus, the mainland can only bring tangible benefits and well-being to Taiwan compatriots. How can there be any threat?

The Taiwan question is not about "democracy versus authoritarianism", but about secession versus anti-secession. Using "democracy" and "authoritarianism" to draw a line between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is to provoke confrontation and seek an excuse for "Taiwan independence” separatist forces. This is the only and real threat to the people of Taiwan. The future of Taiwan lies in peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and the reunification of China. Chinese people on both sides of the Strait should work together to pursue national reunification.