Mainland has 'always stayed out' of island's elections, spokesman says

A spokesman for the Chinese mainland said on Wednesday that the mainland has never interfered in elections in Taiwan and that it never will. He was responding to recent comments by island authorities and the United States.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said, "We have always stayed out of the elections in Taiwan. The DPP authorities are used to slandering the mainland and spreading rumors."

Last week, the island's leader Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party said she believed the mainland had interfered in the nominating process for the Kuomintang party in the race for the island's top office.

"The accusation is nonsense and has ulterior motives behind it," Ma said on Wednesday.

The DPP is creating cross-Straits conflict and is harming the interests of the Taiwan people, he added.

Last week, a senior official of the United States, James Moriarty, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, said in a meeting that Beijing is exerting influence on the upcoming election in Taiwan. He said the US will continue to consult with Taiwan on security issues.

In response, Ma said, "It is irresponsible for some people in the US to repeat the groundless claims of the DPP authorities. The Taiwan question is China's internal affair. No external interference will be allowed."

Taiwan's 2020 election campaign kicked off earlier this year as more politicians from the DPP and KMT announced they would run for the top office.

Terry Gou, head of the world's largest electronics supplier, Foxconn, announced last week that he will run in Taiwan's 2020 leadership election.

Guo criticized Tsai via social media last week for her administration's hostile policy toward the mainland, saying that the key to Taiwan's participation in regional economic cooperation lies in the mainland.

Another potential leadership candidate from the KMT, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu, who gained popularity in the mayoral election last year, said on Tuesday that he is not going to participate in the KMT's primary election.

During his first visit to the mainland at the end of March, trade deals worth more than 1 billion yuan ($149 million) were signed, selling the city's agricultural and fishery products to mainland cities.