Politicians and web users post messages of support for the island after the embassy warned journalists about their coverage of the Double Tenth holiday

Feelings were already running high amid a prolonged border stand-off and the message appears to have poured fuel on the fire

A local politician plastered posters of the Taiwanese flag outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. Photo: TwitterIndian politicians and members of the public have shared messages of support for Taiwan following a warning from the Chinese embassy about its coverage of Taiwanese issues.India and China are locked in a border stand-off in the Himalayas, including a clash that left 20 Indian troops dead, and the warning not to cross China’s red lines when covering the island’s Double Tenth holiday appears to have further inflamed public opinion.

In response, members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and other internet users shared messages of support for the island during the October 10 holiday – which marks the anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of China – using hashtags such as #TaiwanIsACountry and #TaiwanNationalDay.

Y Satya Kumar, national secretary of the BJP, tweeted that India “stands in solidarity with the courage, strength and resolve” of the Taiwanese people “against colonialism and oppression by the imperial power”.

The messages came despite protestations from China’s embassy in New Delhi, whose spokeswoman Ji Rong said on Saturday that Taiwan was an “inalienable part of China” and opposed any actions that suggested Taiwanese independence.An earlier letter from the embassy asking “our media friends” not to refer to Taiwan as a country or the island’s leader Tsai Ing-wen as its president “so as not to send the wrong signals to the general public” had already generated a furore.

The request was also criticised by the Ministry of External Affairs, which said the media was “free to report on any issue it deems fit”.https://multimedia.scmp.com/2019/graphics/launchers/20200702.html

In response to the embassy’s letter, Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, a spokesman for the BJP in Delhi, printed hundreds of posters wishing Taiwan “happy national day” and posted them outside the Chinese embassy building.

The posters were later taken down by the New Delhi municipal council, which said the stunt was not authorised, according to local media reports.

Bagga later tweeted on Saturday that “as an Indian I still stand with One China, 1 Taiwan, 1 Tibet, 1 Hong Kong, 1 Xinjiang”, referring to Beijing’s one-China policy.

The show of support was welcomed by Tsai, who emphasised the two democracies’ shared values, and from the Kuomintang, the island’s main opposition party.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu also thanked people in India for defying the warnings, writing on Twitter that China should “get lost”.

Politicians in other countries also used the Taiwanese holiday to extend support to the island and criticise Beijing, including US senators Ted Cruz and Mitt Romney.

Indian protesters burn a Chinese flag and picture of Xi Jinping in a protest following a deadly clash between soldiers. Photo: AFP

In Hong Kong, police stopped residents from marking the Double Tenth Day, which celebrates an anti-imperial revolt on mainland China in 1911, by local police.

Beijing regularly condemns any insinuation that self-ruled Taiwan is an independent country, and insists it must return to the mainland fold, by force if necessary.

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