SpaceWar.com reports: “Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te warned Wednesday that China’s ‘growing authoritarianism will not stop with’ the island and urged democratic countries to unite to curb its expansion.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and a senior Chinese Communist Party official said Tuesday that Beijing was confident of ‘complete reunification’ with the island.

Speaking at the annual Ketagalan Forum on Indo-Pacific security in Taipei, Lai cautioned that Taiwan was not ‘the only target’ of Beijing.

‘We are all fully aware that China’s growing authoritarianism will not stop with Taiwan, nor is Taiwan the only target of China’s economic pressures,’ he told politicians and scholars from 11 countries attending the forum.

‘China intends to change the rules-based international order. That is why democratic countries must come together and take concrete action. Only by working together can we inhibit the expansion of authoritarianism.’

Lai, who was sworn in on May 20, has been labelled a ‘dangerous separatist’ by China for his staunch defence of Taiwan’s sovereignty…”