TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China on Thursday (June 6) protested a public exchange of tweets between President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the latter's election victory.

When asked by the media about the exchange, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning (毛寧) said, “First of all, there is no such thing as ‘president’ of the Taiwan region.” Mao said Beijing opposes all official interactions between the “Taiwanese authorities” and countries diplomatically aligned with China.

Mao claimed there is only one China and “Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People's Republic of China.” She said Beijing's “one-China” principle is the “universally recognized norm” in international affairs and the “prevailing consensus” in the global community. 

Mao said New Delhi has made “serious political commitments” to Beijing's stance on Taiwan and is obligated to “recognize, be alarmed about and resist the Taiwan authorities’ political calculations.” She added, “China has protested to India about this.” 

Despite setbacks for his Bharatiya Janata Party, Modi gained enough votes to declare victory in India's national elections on Tuesday (June 4), ensuring a historic third term as prime minister. Lai sent a congratulatory message on Wednesday (June 5) which was unexpectedly reciprocated by Modi the same day, breaking from the past precedent of India avoiding direct public messaging to Taiwan's leaders. 

Lai posted on X offering his “sincere congratulations” to Modi for his victory. He added his administration looks forward to “enhancing the fast-growing Taiwan-India partnership.”

Areas he highlighted for cooperation included trade and technology and to “contribute to peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.” 

Modi retweeted Lai's post and thanked him for his “warm message.” Modi expressed anticipation of closer ties as “we work towards mutually beneficial economic and technological partnership.”