ISTANBUL

Beijing promptly responded to Taiwan's President William Lai Ching-te's remarks on Wednesday, brushing aside his comments about "China's authoritarianism expansion" to change the international order, saying no matter what they do or say, China will eventually achieve reunification.

"Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and to resolve the Taiwan question is an internal affair of China that allows no foreign interference," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning, as quoted by the Global Times in its post on X.

Calling Lai's comments "misguiding," Mao said: "No matter what they do and say, they cannot change the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one-China, nor can they stop the historical trend that China will eventually achieve national reunification."

Earlier on Wednesday, Lai said in his address at a security forum in Taipei that "China's growing authoritarianism will not stop with Taiwan, nor is Taiwan the only target of China's economic pressures."

Earlier on Wednesday, Lai told a security forum in Taipei that "China's growing authoritarianism will not stop with Taiwan, nor is Taiwan the only target of China's economic pressures.”

"Democratic countries must come together and take concrete action." Lai said, noting that "only by working together can we inhibit the expansion of authoritarianism."

China considers Taiwan as its "breakaway province" while Taipei has maintained independence since 1949.

Lai said Taiwan "will not be intimidated" by the challenges posed by China and would continue to reform the country's defense, increase spending and build up civil defense resilience.​​​​​​​