China could take control of Taiwan by influencing elections

“Right now, there is a political debate there, there are two different parties. One of the parties wants talks with China. President Tsai Ing-Wen’s party does not want to be part of China,” said Michael McCaul, in an interview with the station NBC News, according to The Hill publication.

“I think that the upcoming elections, scheduled for January 2024, will be extremely important, as I believe that, through the former president Ma Ying-Jeou, who is in China now, Beijing will try to influence the upcoming elections and take control of the island without don’t fire any shots,” Michael McCaul pointed out.

Michael McCaul led a parliamentary delegation that toured Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, just as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, met in the US with the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-Wen. McCarthy said the meeting with Taiwan’s president provided opportunities for “more peace and stability in the world,” amid strong criticism from China, which has warned of escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

Instead, former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-Jeou is touring China, where he pleaded for improved relations with Beijing. “Our administration continues to lead Taiwan to war. The future is an option between peace and war,” said Ma Ying-Jeou, according to Reuters, proposing a “common base at the political level” of Taipei with Beijing.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), of the current Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-Wen, accused Ma Ying-Jeou of becoming an “accomplice” of the “one China” policy.