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Taiwan’s government has criticised an “irrelevant” offer by China for Taiwanese fans to use Chinese websites or even visit the country to watch the World Cup, saying it is easily accessible at home.
On Wednesday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, responding to a question from state media about an unnamed Taiwanese entertainer complaining they could not find World Cup broadcasts in Taiwan, said China has the right to show all the matches.
“We welcome compatriots on the island to use mainland Chinese websites, apps, and other platforms to watch live broadcasts of the matches, or to come to the mainland to watch the games,” spokesperson Chen Binhua told a news conference.
That evening, Taiwan’s China-policymaking Mainland Affairs Council said it was quite untrue that Taiwanese couldn’t watch the matches, pointing to domestic media companies that have the rights and are showing the World Cup.
Taiwanese fans thus have no need to use Chinese websites or apps, it said in a statement.
“The Taiwan Affairs Office even feels the need to comment on World Cup broadcasts — it cares about too many irrelevant matters,” the council added.
Neither Taiwan nor China qualified for the World Cup.
Taiwan’s government has been rooting for Paraguay and Haiti, two of the 12 remaining countries to maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.
Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung posted a video on social media this week waving the flags of both countries.
“I’m very happy to see Taiwan’s allies, Paraguay and Haiti, take the stage at football’s globally watched grand arena,” Lin wrote on his Facebook page.