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China's Foreign Minister Calls Taiwan's New President 'Disgraceful'

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te waves to the crowd during the Taiwan Presidential Inauguration, in Taipei, Taiwan, 20 May 2024. (EPA)
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te waves to the crowd during the Taiwan Presidential Inauguration, in Taipei, Taiwan, 20 May 2024. (EPA)
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China's Foreign Minister Calls Taiwan's New President 'Disgraceful'

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te waves to the crowd during the Taiwan Presidential Inauguration, in Taipei, Taiwan, 20 May 2024. (EPA)
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te waves to the crowd during the Taiwan Presidential Inauguration, in Taipei, Taiwan, 20 May 2024. (EPA)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Taiwan's newly-inaugurated President Lai Ching-te "disgraceful" on Tuesday, stepping up Beijing's rhetoric just a day after he took office.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, believes Lai to be a "separatist", and has rebuffed his offers of talks.

China's government has generally avoided directly naming Lai since he won election in January, unlike in the run-up to the vote where they regularly denounced him by name and said the election was a choice between war and peace.

Speaking at a foreign ministers meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Kazakhstan, Wang said Taiwan was the "core of core issues" for China, and independence activities the most destructive factor for peace in the Taiwan Strait.

"The ugly acts of Lai Ching-te and others who betray the nation and their ancestors is disgraceful," China's foreign ministry cited Wang as saying.

Nothing can stop China from achieving "reunification" and bringing Taiwan "back to the motherland", he added.

"All Taiwan independence separatists will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history."

Lai, like his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, says only Taiwan's people can decide their future, rejecting Beijing's sovereignty claims.

China on Tuesday also admonished the United States for sending its congratulations to Lai, after scolding South Korean and Japanese lawmakers for visiting Taiwan despite its strong opposition.

In his inauguration address on Monday, Lai asked China to stop its military and political threats, saying that peace was the only choice and that Beijing had to respect the choice of the Taiwanese people.

Lai received loud applause after reiterating that the Republic of China - Taiwan's formal name - and the People's Republic of China are "not subordinate to each other", a line Tsai also took.

China views such wording as tantamount to saying China and Taiwan are different countries, a red line for Beijing.

China says any move by Taiwan to declare formal independence would be grounds to attack the island.

The government in Taipei says Taiwan is already an independent country, the Republic of China. The Republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists who set up the People's Republic of China.

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World

Kremlin Says Christmas Ceasefire Proposed by Ukraine Depends on Reaching Peace Deal

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russia's President with Iranian President in Ashgabat on December 12, 2025. (Photo by Alexander KAZAKOV / POOL / AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russia's President with Iranian President in Ashgabat on December 12, 2025. (Photo by Alexander KAZAKOV / POOL / AFP)
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Kremlin Says Christmas Ceasefire Proposed by Ukraine Depends on Reaching Peace Deal

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russia's President with Iranian President in Ashgabat on December 12, 2025. (Photo by Alexander KAZAKOV / POOL / AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting of Russia's President with Iranian President in Ashgabat on December 12, 2025. (Photo by Alexander KAZAKOV / POOL / AFP)

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that a Christmas truce that Ukraine has proposed would depend on whether a peace deal is reached or not.

Russia does not want a ceasefire that would allow Kyiv to prepare for further fighting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

He added that Moscow had not yet seen details of proposals on NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine that US and European officials said Washington has offered to provide, according to Reuters.

World

Zelenskyy Says Peace Proposals to End War in Ukraine Could Be Presented to Russia within Days 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP)
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Zelenskyy Says Peace Proposals to End War in Ukraine Could Be Presented to Russia within Days 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listens during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says proposals negotiated with US officials on a peace deal to end his country’s nearly four-year war with Russia could be finalized within days, after which American envoys will present them to the Kremlin before further possible meetings in the United States next weekend.

Zelenskyy told reporters late Monday that a draft peace plan discussed with the US during talks in Berlin earlier in the day is “very workable.” He cautioned, however, that some key issues — notably what happens to Ukrainian territory occupied by invading Russian forces — remain unresolved.

US-led peace efforts appear to be picking up momentum. But Russian President Vladimir Putin may balk at some of the proposals thrashed out by officials from Washington, Kyiv and Western Europe, including postwar security guarantees for Ukraine.

American officials on Monday said there's consensus from Ukraine and Europe on about 90% of the US-authored peace plan. US President Donald Trump said: “I think we’re closer now than we have been, ever” to a peace settlement.

Plenty of potential pitfalls remain, however.

Zelenskyy reiterated that Kyiv rules out recognizing Moscow’s control over any part of the Donbas, an economically important region in eastern Ukraine made up of Luhansk and Donetsk. Russia's army doesn’t fully control either.

“The Americans are trying to find a compromise,” Zelenskyy said, before visiting the Netherlands on Tuesday. “They are proposing a ‘free economic zone’ (in the Donbas). And I want to stress once again: a ‘free economic zone’ does not mean under the control of the Russian Federation.”

The land issue remains one of the most difficult obstacles to a comprehensive agreement.

Putin wants all the areas in four key regions that his forces have seized, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory.

Zelenskyy warned that if Putin rejects diplomatic efforts, Ukraine expects increased Western pressure on Moscow, including tougher sanctions and additional military support for defense. Kyiv would seek enhanced air defense systems and long-range weapons if diplomacy collapses, he said.

Ukraine and the US are preparing up to five documents related to the peace framework, several of them focused on security, Zelenskyy said.

He was upbeat about the progress in the Berlin talks.

“Overall, there was a demonstration of unity,” Zelenskyy said. “It was truly positive in the sense that it reflected the unity of the US, Europe, and Ukraine.”

World

China Reiterates Demand That Japanese PM Retract Taiwan Remarks 

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions during a session of the House of Councillors budget committee in the National Diet in Tokyo on December 15, 2025. (AFP)
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions during a session of the House of Councillors budget committee in the National Diet in Tokyo on December 15, 2025. (AFP)
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China Reiterates Demand That Japanese PM Retract Taiwan Remarks 

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions during a session of the House of Councillors budget committee in the National Diet in Tokyo on December 15, 2025. (AFP)
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi answers questions during a session of the House of Councillors budget committee in the National Diet in Tokyo on December 15, 2025. (AFP)

China on Tuesday reiterated its demand that Japan retract Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about Taiwan, more than a month after Takaichi said an attack on the democratically governed island could be deemed an existential threat to Japan.

"On key issues, Japan is still 'squeezing toothpaste' and 'burying nails,' attempting to obfuscate and muddle through," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said during a regular press briefing, adding that Beijing is "firmly opposed to this."

Diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Beijing have been at their lowest in years after Takaichi suggested a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.