TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – On Sunday (Aug. 4), President Tsai Ing-Wen (蔡英文) responded to criticism from Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) who stated on Saturday evening Tsai “does not love her own country.” Han also said that for the past three years Tsai has only referred to Taiwan as “this country” while avoiding direct mention of the official title “Republic of China.”

During a visit to Yilan Sunday morning, Tsai countered the baseless remarks by observing that, while Han Kuo-yu has been doing a lot of talking recently, he has not been seen doing much else. Responding to his accusation that she does not love Taiwan, Tsai calmly stated that she didn’t think many people would agree with his characterization.

The president reminded Han that he was the one who openly paid visits to both the Chinese Liaison Offices in Macao and Hong Kong, visits which were certainly interpreted by Beijing as an endorsement of “one country, two systems.” Suggesting that Han’s own actions were quite “unpatriotic” (不愛國), Tsai added that she hopes Han will not attempt to evade questions on the issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty and China’s “one country, two systems” proposal.

Tsai emphasized her consistent position that her administration’s top priority remains defending the sovereignty of Taiwan and the “Republic of China.” She concluded her response with a subtle dig at the KMT presidential nominee by stating that Han should display a little more understanding towards political issues and matters of national importance in the future, reports LTN.