China complains about Dutch news report on Taiwan

China complained on Wednesday about a news report by the Dutch public broadcaster NOS on Taiwan, a signal of Beijing’s hardening position towards the island.

China’s embassy said the broadcaster should “adhere to the one-China principle, eliminate the negative impact, and not provide [a] platform for ‘Taiwan independence’ forces”.

On Saturday, NOS broadcast a story on the chip industry in Taiwan, reporting that “the country sees it as life insurance against an invasion by rival China” and interviewing former Taiwanese deputy minister of foreign affairs Roy Chun Lee.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under control. Taiwan objects to China’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide their future.

Recently, Beijing has hardened its stance on Taiwan. When Premier Li Qiang released budget figures at the opening of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s rubber-stamp parliament, on Tuesday the mention of a “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan was dropped.