Taiwan's constitution states that the Republic of China is a sovereign state, and that has been a consensus shared by all Taiwan's main political parties.
The Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists, who set up the People's Republic.
"It is because if he is elected as the leader of Taiwan, he may come to advance his goal of Taiwan independence, which will provoke a crisis across the Taiwan Strait."
China's Taiwan Affairs Office said his comments were "weird" and "deceitful" given that his "Taiwan independence nature" had not changed.
China has demanded Taiwan's government accept that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to "one China," something Tsai and Lai have refused to do.
Persons:
William Lai, Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Lai, Tsai Ing, Mao Zedong's, Wu Xinbo, Joseph Wu, George Yin, Yin, Tsai's, Lai ., Xi Jinping, Taiwan's, Tsai, Meng Chih, cheng, Ben Blanchard, Sarah Wu, Martin Pollard, Casey, Sonali Paul
Organizations:
International Airport, REUTERS, Rights, Shanghai's Fudan University, National Taiwan University, Taiwan Affairs Office, Cheng Kung University, Casey Hall, Thomson
Locations:
United States, New York, Paraguay, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Rights TAIPEI, China, Beijing, Taiwanese, Republic of China, People's Republic of China, The Republic of China, Republic, Republic of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shanghai