SEOUL - China rebuked South Korea on March 18 for Taiwan’s participation in a United States-backed democracy summit in Seoul, where the island’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang delivered an unannounced video message.
Ms Tang told the third Summit for Democracy that Taiwan suffered disproportionately from concerted cyber attacks, and the island was willing and able to work with all stakeholders to ensure artificial intelligence (AI) develops safely and sustainably.
Taiwan is a key global supplier of the semiconductor chips critical for such technology applications.
The conference being hosted by South Korea is an initiative of US President Joe Biden aimed at finding ways to stop democratic backsliding and the erosion of rights and freedoms.
China regards the self-governing Taiwan as its territory to be reunified with it. Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
Beijing said on March 18 that it was firmly opposed to South Korea having invited Taiwan to participate.
“There is only one China in the world,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular news conference in Beijing. “Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.”
He urged Seoul to abide by the “one China” principle and stop providing a platform for Taiwan independence forces to boost their prestige.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond when asked about Mr Lin’s comments.
Conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has charted a course closer to the United States.
But China is South Korea’s largest trading partner, and Mr Yoon has also tried to placate Beijing to avoid widespread economic blowback.
Ms Tang’s participation in the event was not announced in advance by the authorities in either Taiwan or South Korea.
A session programme distributed on March 18 listed only a possible video message in fine print at the end, while Ms Tang’s ministry did not flag the appearance in her daily schedule of public events given to reporters.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said Ms Tang’s comments were made in a pre-recorded video message.
The South Korean announcer who introduced Ms Tang’s video said she was appearing in a private capacity as an expert on the issues.
A democratic rather than technocratic approach is ideal to tackle the challenges of AI, such as by mobilising citizens to identify and counter misinformation, Ms Tang told the gathering.
Ms Tang’s invitation to Mr Biden’s first democracy summit in 2021 also drew protest from China. US officials had cut short the video feed of her remarks after a map in her slide presentation swathed Taiwan in a colour different from that of China. REUTERS
