China warns of ‘disruption’ with Taiwan

China yesterday warned of a serious disruption of ties with Taiwan as the island’s voters appear set to elect a new president with a far more sceptical view of dealings with Beijing.

The year ahead is bringing “complex changes” and the sides face “new challenges,” the director of the Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun, said in a New Year’s greeting to Taiwan’s 23 million people.

Recalling the progress in relations made over the past seven-plus years under Taiwan’s China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou, Zhang said he hoped Taiwanese realise those gains could evaporate if the island defies China’s insistence that it remains a part of the Chinese nation.