After the 50-death train derailment in Taiwan, India offered high-profile condolences to Taiwan; Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry also expressed condolences to India for the recent casualties, and feelings between the two sides warmed up sharply. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not happy with the interaction between India and Taiwan, and with the Indian media publishing articles encouraging cooperation between India and Taiwan, the CCP embassy in India says its “bottom line” has been challenged again.
India’s first high-profile condolences on Taiwan train accident
After the train accident in Taiwan, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on its official Facebook page to mourn; Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi, on April 3, took to Twitter in a rare tweet to offer condolences on behalf of the Indian government, “We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the early recovery of the injured.”
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ou Jiang-an said on April 6 that this was the first time since Taiwan opened its representative office in India in 1995 that the Indian Foreign Ministry had publicly expressed its condolences over an accident. “I think the interaction between Taiwan and India is indeed very warm and the relationship is close and friendly, and I think this is of great significance.”
Indian security forces were attacked in an ambush by local Maoist rebels in the central province of Chhattisgarh on March 3, igniting a gun battle that left at least 22 people dead and 30 injured in the security forces. Two days later, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Wu Chiu-sup tweeted that he “would like to extend our deepest condolences to the casualties. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims, and we sincerely hope that the injured will recover soon. Taiwan stands with India and supports India’s national integrity”.
Indian mainstream media: India-Taiwan cooperation is of strategic importance
On April 4, the Times of India, India’s largest English-language newspaper, published an article analyzing the triangular relationship between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Taiwan and India under the title “New Delhi-Taipei cooperation is both mutually beneficial and sends a clear signal to the CCP”. The article is sharp and incisive, poking the CPC to the core, making the CPC jump to its feet.
The article writes that the CCP is extremely sensitive to other countries’ contacts with Taiwan, but India does not have to worry about this because “Taiwan is a vibrant country of 23 million people and cherishes a multi-party democratic system. It is also an Asian economy and a world leader in semiconductors”.
The article also mentions that India and Taiwan can cooperate in a number of areas, “from smart cities and agricultural technology to semiconductors, renewable energy and even learning Mandarin, Taiwan’s education centers can easily replace China’s (Communist Party of China’s) dubious Confucius Institutes.”
The article also pointedly notes that as the CCP’s influence grows around the world, India needs to better understand the CCP, and Taiwan knows best, which is why India’s cooperation with Taiwan is “strategically important.” The article also says that the CCP-Pakistan axis is designed to pinch India, and since the CCP has Pakistan as its “buddy,” India needs to develop a friendship with its “Taiwanese brothers.
No doubt the article infuriated the Chinese Communist Party, and in a statement, the Chinese embassy said the article “seriously violates the one-China principle and ignores the long-standing position of the Indian government, provoking the bottom line of China (the Chinese Communist Party).
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