Taipei calls \u2018no limits\u2019 agreement announced after Xi-Putin summit an insult to the Olympic spirit
\n Beijing
\nTaiwan has condemned as \u201ccontemptible\u201d the timing of China and Russia\u2019s \u201cno limits\u201d partnership at the start of the Winter Olympics, saying the Chinese government was bringing shame to the spirit of the Games.
\nChina and Russia, at a meeting of their leaders hours before the Winter Olympics officially opened, backed each other over standoffs on Ukraine and Taiwan with a promise to collaborate more against the west.
\nRussia voiced its support for China\u2019s stance that democratically governed Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and opposition to any form of independence for the island.
\nTaiwan\u2019s foreign ministry said China\u2019s continued false claims that the island was part of the People\u2019s Republic of China were exactly the same as the country\u2019s habit of spreading fake news.
\n\u201cIt not only increases the Taiwanese people\u2019s disgust at and loathing for the Chinese government\u2019s arrogance and bullying, it also clearly shows all the world\u2019s countries the sinister face of the Chinese Communist regime\u2019s aggression, expansionism and damaging of peace.\u201d
\nAt a time when the world\u2019s eyes are focused on the Winter Olympics and cheering on their athletes, the Chinese government has used the Russian summit to engage in the expansion of authoritarianism, the ministry added.
\n\u201cThis is an insult to the peaceful spirit embodied by the Olympic rings, and will be spurned by Taiwan\u2019s people and held in contempt by democratic countries.\u201d
\nThe United States has also criticised the meeting, saying Chinese president Xi Jinping should have used the meeting to push for a lowering of tensions in Ukraine.
\nThe Olympics, to which Taiwan has sent a small team of four athletes to compete, is happening at a time of heightened tensions between Taipei and Beijing, with China regularly sending military ships and aircraft near the island.
\nWhile Russia is a close friend of China\u2019s, both Russia and Taiwan maintain small de facto embassies in each other\u2019s capitals.
\nFormer Taiwan president Chiang Ching-kuo, who began tentative democratic reforms, spoke Russian and was married to a Russian he met while working there in the 1930s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Taipei calls \u2018no limits\u2019 agreement announced after Xi-Putin summit an insult to the Olympic spirit Beijing Taiwan has condemned as \u201ccontemptible\u201d the timing of China and Russia\u2019s \u201cno limits\u201d partnership at the start of the Winter Olympics, saying the Chinese government was bringing shame to the spirit of the Games. China and Russia, at a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2871,18,3789,1356,1913,338,188],"class_list":{"0":"post-242806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-beijing-winter-olympics-2022","9":"tag-china","10":"tag-contemptible","11":"tag-olympics","12":"tag-partnership","13":"tag-russia","14":"tag-taiwan"},"yoast_head":"\n