Taiwan President Lai Ching-te is escalating tensions with "sinister intentions," China's government said, ahead of a keynote speech Lai will give in Taipei that could set off a Chinese military response.
Lai, who took office in May after being elected in January, is detested by China, which calls him a "separatist." Beijing claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, a view Lai and his government reject.
Responding late Tuesday to comments Lai gave at the weekend on how it is "impossible" for the People's Republic of China to become Taiwan's motherland because Taiwan has older political roots, China's Taiwan Affairs Office said he was confusing right from wrong.
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