President Lai Ching-te delivered a speech at 113th National Day Gala of the Republic of China (ROC) on the evening of 05/10, he threw out the argument that the People’s Republic of China could never become the motherland of the ROC’s citizens, which attracted international media attention and appeared on the Home of the website of the United Kingdom media “The Guardian”.
President Lai pointed out in his speech at the National Day Gala on 5 October that the nearest neighbor People’s Republic of China just passed his 75th birthday on October 1, and in terms of age, People’s Republic of China can never become the motherland of the Republic of China, and if you want to congratulate People’s Republic of China on a happy birthday, you must not use the word “motherland”.
Reuters reported on President Lai’s “motherland theory” and was reprinted by The Guardian with the headline “Taiwan President Says Chinese Mainland Is Not the Motherland Because Our Republic Is Older.”
Lai Ching-te, who became president in May this year, rejected Beijing’s claim to Taiwan and said that Taiwan’s name was the Republic of China, which dates back to the Hsinhai Revolution that overthrew China’s Qing Dynasty in 1911.
The report also mentioned that President Lai, who had previously cited history to anger Beijing, would give another speech on the day of Double 10 National Day. In September, President Lai said in an interview that if China’s claim to Taiwan is for territorial integrity, China should also get back the land ceded to Russia under the Qing Dynasty’s Treaty of Aigun.
In addition, the United Kingdom newspaper The Independent also reported that President Lai threw out the motherland because the Republic of China has longer historical roots than the People’s Republic of China.
The text refers to the history of both sides of the Taiwan Strait, after the Kuomintang lost the Kuomintang-Communist Civil War, moved the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan in 1949, and since then Taiwan has been separated from Chinese mainland.
台灣總統賴清德於5日晚間在113年國慶晚會上發表演說，強調中華人民共和國絕不可能成為中華民國人民的「祖國」，此言論引起國際媒體的廣泛關注，並登上英國《衛報》的首頁。
在國慶晚會上，賴總統提到，剛剛於10月1日慶祝75歲生日的中華人民共和國，從年齡上來看，無法成為中華民國人民的「祖國」，如果要祝賀中華人民共和國的生日，切勿使用「祖國」這個詞。
路透社報導了賴總統的「祖國說」，而《衛報》則以「台灣總統稱中國大陸並非祖國，因為我們的共和國更悠久」為標題進行轉載。
報導指出，自今年5月就任總統以來，賴清德拒絕承認北京對台灣的主權主張，並強調台灣的正式名稱是中華民國，其歷史可追溯至1911年辛亥革命推翻清朝的時期。
此外，賴總統計劃在雙十國慶當天再次發表演說，並曾引用歷史事件以激怒北京。今年9月，他在接受訪問時表示，如果中國主張對台灣的要求是出於領土完整，那麼中國也應該收回清朝時期根據璦琿條約割讓給俄羅斯的土地。
英國《獨立報》也報導了賴總統的「祖國說」，指出中華民國的歷史根源比中華人民共和國更為悠久。報導中提到，國共內戰結束後，國民黨於1949年將中華民國政府遷至台灣，從此台灣與中國大陸分離。
