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"Tastes don't cheat": Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying
Photo: NOEL CELIS / AFP
For months, China has been trying to put military pressure on the small island republic of Taiwan.
Now a high-ranking spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also dared to try a culinary maneuver.
If there are Chinese restaurants in Taiwan, then Taiwan must belong to China, argued Hua Chunying on the news service Twitter, which is actually banned in China.
Hua used a map service in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei to count over a hundred restaurants serving classic cuisine from the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Shanxi.
She shared screenshots of it with the exclamation, "Palate don't cheat.
#Taiwan has always been a part of China.” “The long-lost child will come home one day,” she added.
For the idiosyncratic conclusion, the spokeswoman earned ridicule from users of the online platform, which is only accessible via VPN in China.
»Google Maps shows that there are 17 McDonalds, 18 KFCs, 19 Burger Kings and 19 Starbucks in Beijing.
Taste buds don't lie.
#China has always been part of America,” wrote Twitter user @plasticreceiver.
Other users jokingly asked if Beijing could now lay claim to territories far beyond the Asia-Pacific region.
China extends military exercises on Taiwan's doorstep
Behind the absurd Twitter spat lies a week of tension around the Taiwan Strait.
After US leader Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, China began large-scale military maneuvers in the region.
Beijing also suspended cooperation with Washington on issues such as climate and defense.
Contrary to previous announcements, China continued its military exercises off Taiwan this week.
The People's Liberation Army was concentrating on "joint operations against submarines and naval attacks" in the Taiwan Strait straits, Chinese state television reported.
Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian described the maneuvers as a "necessary warning to the United States and Taiwan."
It was an "appropriate" response to their "provocations."
The Chinese leadership rejects official contact from other countries to Taiwan - like Pelosi's recent visit - because they see the island as part of the People's Republic.
On the other hand, Taiwan has long seen itself as independent.
With the maneuvers, the People's Liberation Army practiced not only a sea and air blockade, but also a possible conquest of the island.
Some Chinese commentators suggested that the military drills are happening regularly and could become a new normal.
mrc/dpa/AFP
