China also opposed the US decision to invite Taiwan. China also blamed US President Joe Biden for inviting Taiwan to participate in a democracy summit with 109 other democratic governments.
Read: Biden Uninvites Russia and China to Democracy Summit, Kremlin: US Divides
Taiwan’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang, who is the second-youngest official in the cabinet, hit back at Beijing’s criticism of the invitation to Taiwan. “There will be more summits for democracy in the future,” Tang announced while speaking at the Reuters Next conference on Friday (12/3/2021).
“So, to all governments and people around the world who feel they might be belittled by not being invited as a participant, my suggestion is to double down on realizing democracy, so maybe in the next round we will share the same stage,” Tang said.
Tang, the executive cabinet’s first transgender member, will represent Taiwan at the upcoming summit with Hsiao Bi-khim, the de-facto ambassador in Washington. The summit, which is the first of two such conferences organized by the AA, will be held virtually.
Read: Taiwan Invited to Democracy Summit, China: US Made a Mistake
The Summit for Democracy will bring together leaders from government and the private sector to focus on three main themes: defending against authoritarianism, tackling and fighting corruption, promoting respect for human rights, the US State Department website explains.
Apart from not inviting Taiwan, the US also did not invite Russia. The Kremlin immediately called the US stance a divisive policy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the guest list, released Tuesday on the US State Department website, showed that Washington “prefers to draw a new dividing line, to divide the country into states that are – in their opinion – good, and bad.”
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