Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on Wednesday asked the Chinese mission to "get lost" after the latter asked Indian media to follow 'one-China policy'.
"India is the largest democracy on earth with a vibrant press and freedom-loving people. But it looks like communist China hoping to march into the subcontinent by imposing censorship," Taiwanese Foreign Ministry tweeted.
"Taiwan's Indian friends will have one reply: GET LOST! JW". The tweet was undersigned with initials--JW or Joseph Wu, the foreign minister of Taiwan.
The Chinese mission in Delhi wrote to Indian media and called upon them to not refer to Taiwan as a "nation".
"Would like to remind our media friends that there is only one China in the world" and the "Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China." Taiwan wrote in a letter.
"Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. All countries that have diplomatic relations with China should firmly honour their commitment to the One-China policy, which is also the long-standing official position of the Indian government." it added.
The letter came ahead of Taiwan's national day on October 10.
China claims democratically-run Taiwan as its own territory, to be taken by force if needed, a threat the island has lived with since 1949, when defeated Kuomintang, or Nationalist, forces fled there after their defeat by the Communists in the Chinese civil war.
China has been angered by stepped-up U.S. support for Taiwan, including two visits in as many months by top officials, one in August by Health Secretary Alex Azar and the other last week by Keith Krach, the undersecretary for economic affairs.
In addition, the United States is planning major new arms sales to Taiwan. China views all these steps as effectively being U.S. support for Taiwan independence, with the eventual establishment of a Republic of Taiwan, a red line for Beijing.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says the island is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name, and that the People`s Republic of China has never ruled Taiwan and has no right to.
China calls Taiwan its most important and sensitive issue in U.S. ties. For China`s ruling Communist Party, Taiwan is the last part of the nation still awaiting "liberation" after the 1949 victory, adding an extra historical significance.
