‘You are playing with fire!’ China cries as BJP leader puts up “Happy National Day, Taiwan” posters right outside the Chinese Embassy in India

Over the years, Taiwan National Day has been a quiet affair as China managed to successfully coerce nations across the globe to follow the “One China Policy” which considers Taiwan as part of China. India on its part has also remained steadfast in its continued adherence to the “One China Policy”, however, the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic and the escalating border tensions with China, has sparked a rethink in New Delhi’s power circles, with China’s two arch-nemeses, India and Taiwan increasingly drifting closer to each other.

On the occasion of the 109th National Day of Taiwan, China woke up to a rude shock as posters wishing Taiwan a happy National Day sprung up across New Delhi, especially near the Chinese Embassy. The posters were issued by none other than Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, a member of India’s ruling party, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which sparked a meltdown in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which then deployed its propaganda outlet, Global Times to warn India over its actions.

While India is yet to officially recognise Taiwan, there has been a blossoming of an unofficial relationship which threatens to swipe the rug from China’s feet and catch the rogue state blindsided.

The pro-Taiwan posters were spotted outside the Chinese Embassy and also across the high-security area of Chanakyapuri, New Delhi by ruling BJP’s leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga. This is where most of the Embassies and High Commissions are located in New Delhi. The message couldn’t have been clearer: India is letting the world know that it stands up for Taiwan.

Taiwan on its part too ensured that its top leaders, including Lai Ching-te, the Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Wang Ting-yu, Co-chair of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taiwan’s Parliament, made a beeline for India on Twitter.

This caused much heartburn in Beijing’s power circles, as China was not only jilted by the one thing it craves the most, Taiwan but was also severely embarrassed by the posters which were noticed by the who’s who of the globe.

Hence, China stooped down to doing what it knows best, acting like a true paper dragon it deployed its propaganda outlet Global Times in a desperate bid to warn India.

Global Times took to Twitter to claim, “Hanging up posters arranged by India BJP leader celebrating the “national day” of Taiwan Island outside Chinese Embassy in New Delhi is an act of playing with fire, and will only worsen the already soured China-India ties, Chinese analysts warned.

In its article, the propaganda outlet urged “India’s ruling party to give up its irrational behaviour and to realise it is playing with fire.

When an irked China shot off a letter to Indian media in a bid to coax them into not referring Taiwan as a “nation” and also follow the “One China” policy, the Indian Foreign Ministry defended the right of Indian media to publish its own views even if they don’t respect the one-China policy.

It is pertinent to note that by the end of the day, National Taiwan Day became the top trend in India with several Indian nationals, politicians and journalists wishing the Island nation on its 109^th National Day.

Global Times in a bid to please its master, the modern-day version of Hitler, Xi Jinping laughably claimed, “Through inciting anti-China sentiments domestically for the sake of its own interests on the Taiwan question and to rally support over border tensions, the Indian government is pushing away China as a good neighbour.”

The use of the wordings “good neighbour” would have certainly invoked loud chuckles in Delhi’s power corridors as China and good neighbour don’t go hand in hand. It seems that China has a separate definition of being a “good neighbour” – the one who is ready to bend at China’s whims and fancy. Pakistan and Nepal, the so-called good neighbours of China, have paid dearly as they have all but become Chinese vassal states as the respective countries are inundated with unsustainable Chinese debts with China continuing to illegally occupy their land with absolutely no consequences as China has bought the silence of those who matter in Pakistan and Nepal.

The comical article further claimed, “The nationalist BJP has been unscrupulously provoking the Taiwan question under the surface of India-China ties, and has crossed China’s bottom line as it plays the Taiwan card thinking it is a bargaining chip in dealing with China. Adding, “This provocation will not bring any good to India, and will only fuel soured bilateral tensions and even damage the established strategic partnership of the two countries.”

It is true that India is using Taiwan as a bargaining chip in dealing with India. If the latter were to officially recognise Taiwan, it would have far-reaching consequences for China and would likely start a chain reaction where countries queue up to recognise Taiwan – Xi Jinping’s worst nightmare. However, the fact that India hasn’t officially recognised Taiwan doesn’t mean the two countries aren’t engaging with each other.

Recently, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) and India’s National Maritime Foundation (NMF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday just a couple of days before the National Day of Taiwan. The MoU sought to deepen Indo-Taiwanese cooperation in maritime affairs and regional development, thereby diluting ‘One China Principle’ in a subtle way.

In fact, India has been dropping hints of forging closer ties with Taiwan for the past few months. When Tsai Ing-wen won a second consecutive Presidential term recently, two BJP MPs, Meenakshi Lekhi and Rahul Kaswan attended her swearing-in ceremony. Taipei itself has been looking to strengthen ties with India. Recently, the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer, the Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn announced that the company is planning “further investments” in India.

Understandably, the recent happenings between India and Taiwan haven’t dominated the global headlines, which has caught China off-guard which is now behaving like a jilted lover. It seems that Xi Jinping’s worst nightmare is soon going to come true, which might well also mark the end of the tyrant’s reign.