New | ‘She’s so extreme because she’s single’: mainland official launches personal attack on Taiwan’s new leader Tsai Ing-wen
Wang Weixing also dredges up Tsai’s family history in article published by newspaper under Xinhua
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen is free to go to extremes because she’s single – or so a member of Beijing’s body in charge of ties with the island has claimed in a personal attack on the new leader.
The controversial views of Wang Weixing, a member of the Association of Relations across the Taiwan Straits (Arats), were published in the International Herald Leader, a paper under the official Xinhua news agency, on Tuesday.
“From the human point of view, as a single woman politician, [Tsai] does not have the emotional burden of love, of ‘family’, of children, [so her] political style and executive strategy tends to be emotional, personal and extreme,” wrote Wang, who is also a senior military officer and director of foreign studies with the People’s Liberation Army’s Academy of Military Sciences.
The newspaper could not be reached for comment, and the article was removed from major news portals on Wednesday.
Tsai is the first woman elected to Taiwan’s presidential office.
Wang went on to launch further personal attacks on the island’s new president in his lengthy article.
He claimed that because the Tsai family was well connected to the Japanese invaders during the second world war, “their historical memory, perception and understanding of the Japanese colonial rule is radically different from feelings shared by the people on both sides of [the Taiwan Strait] who hated and rose against the Japanese enemies”.
Tsai’s father had more than one wife, which negatively affected her personality, such as causing her to lack a sense of security, he added.
Wang predicted that Tsai would be different from all her predecessors.
She would seek “hidden independence” and provoke Beijing to destroy peace in the strait, he wrote.
“When we deal with Tsai, [we] must always consider important factors such as her experience, personality and psychological traits,” Wang wrote. “This is essentially a contest of will and wisdom.”
