Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, in an interview with the island's local media, addressed China's claims on Taiwan and its territorial integrity. He argued that if China's claims are truly about territorial integrity, then it should also take back land from Russia that was signed over by the last Chinese dynasty in the 19th century.

China views Taiwan, a democratically governed island, as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control. Taiwan's government firmly rejects these claims, asserting that only the island's people can decide their future.

During an interview with a Taiwanese television station that aired late on Sunday, Lai, whom China labels as a "separatist," mentioned the 1858 Treaty of Aigun. In this treaty, China ceded a vast tract of land in what is now Russia's far east to the Russian empire, establishing much of the current border along the Amur River.