China Calls Taiwan Vice President-Elect ‘Scum’

BEIJING — Calling Taiwan’s vice president-elect the “scum” of the country and an incurable separatist, China on Saturday stepped up pressure on the island by renewing its warnings against moving toward independence.

China’s harsh rhetoric contrasted with the wait-and-see stance it has adopted since a March 18 vote forced out the Nationalists who had ruled Taiwan since fleeing the mainland amid civil war in 1949.

Annette Lu, the vice president-elect, and President-elect Chen Shui-bian have said that they support a formal declaration of independence only if Beijing attacks.

But Lu has harshly criticized China for threatening to use force to assert its claim to Taiwan, which the mainland considers a renegade province, and she supports efforts to counter Beijing’s attempts to isolate the island.

The Communist regime’s warnings coincided with a report by a Chinese-backed newspaper in Hong Kong, the Wen Wei Po, that China has sent additional troops, including a missile unit, for duty rotation in Fujian province, across from Taiwan.

China’s statement, carried on official media, accused Lu of provoking “animosity between the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”

“In fact, she has become the scum of the Chinese nation,” it said.

“She uses poisonous words plotting to incite Taiwan comrades to hate their compatriots on the motherland,” a commentary by the official New China News Agency said.

Responding to the statement, Lu said that Beijing, stunned by the election outcome, has resorted to efforts to divide Taiwan’s leadership.