China has issued a strongly-worded condemnation for an Israeli lawmaker who visited Taiwan and met the self-governed island’s president Lai Ching-te.
The Beijing embassy in Tel Aviv took a highly critical tone for Knesset member Boaz Toporovsky from liberal Zionist Yesh Atid party for meeting with Mr Lai during his visit to the island nation.
The Israeli lawmaker led the Knesset delegation last week, hailing Taiwan as a “true friend of Israel” after several high-level meetings with senior Taiwanese officials.
“Taiwan is a true friend of Israel, that has supported and continues to support the citizens of Israel, from October 7th until today, and even funded the establishment of a maritime resilience centre in Palmachim, which has already treated over a thousand survivors of October 7th and their families,” he said on X after his meeting.
The Israeli parliament official said it is Israel’s duty to stand by Taipei “at a time when many countries are abandoning Israel” and important to remember who is Tel Aviv’s friend.
Mr Toporovsky’s visit did not go down well with China as it accused the politician of “undermining bilateral relations”.
China views Taiwan as a breakaway province and claims sovereignty over its smaller neighbour. Chinese president Xi Jinping has not ruled out capturing its smaller neighbour by “force”. They also view Taiwan’s president as a separatist leader.
US intelligence reports say Mr Xi has instructed his military to be ready to invade by the year 2027 if he gives the order.
Beijing objected to the Taiwanese president thanking Israel’s parliament for “staunchly backing Taiwan’s international participation”.
In a statement on Sunday evening, Beijing’s embassy accused Mr Toporovsky of “blatantly” violating the one-China principle, which claims Taiwan as part of the mainland.
“MK Toporovsky of the Yesh Atid, disregarding China’s strong opposition and solemn representations, once again visited Taiwan and repeatedly made erroneous remarks regarding the Taiwan question,” the embassy said in a statement on Facebook, saying the act undermines the political foundation of China-Israel relations.
“He has become a trouble-maker for the sound development of bilateral ties. The Chinese embassy in Israel strongly condemns his detrimental words and actions,” the statement said.
If the Israeli lawmaker “does not rein in at the brink of the precipice, he will fall and be shattered to pieces,” the embassy said, accusing the lawmaker of interfering in China’s internal matters.
The embassy claimed Taiwan’s return to China’s control is an “integral part of the postwar international order” and that the democratic island is an “inalienable part of China’s territory”.
“His political credibility has been completely eroded, and he is not eligible to represent the others. We admonish this MK not to delude himself that he can harm China’s core interests and the national sentiments of the Chinese people without paying a price,” the embassy said in a strongly-worded statement.
The exchange was further shared on social media on Monday by the Chinese ambassador to Israel Xiao Junzheng.
