Taiwan on Sunday pledged to defend its sovereignty and bolster its defences against Chinese coercion.
Addressing a National Day rally outside the presidential office in central Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wen said she hopes that tensions across the Taiwan Strait will ease and reiterated that Taiwan will not “act rashly.”
However, the leader also said that “there should be absolutely no illusions that the Taiwanese people will bow to pressure...We will continue to bolster our national defence and demonstrate our determination to defend ourselves in order to ensure that nobody can force Taiwan to take the path China has laid out for us,” Tsai said.
“This is because the path that China has laid out offers neither a free and democratic way of life for Taiwan, nor sovereignty for our 23 million people...The more we achieve, the greater the pressure we face from China. So I want to remind all my fellow citizens that we do not have the privilege of letting down our guard,” she added.
On the same day, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed for a peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan while speaking at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Xi said that Chinese people have a “glorious tradition” of opposing separatism. “Taiwan independence separatism is the biggest obstacle to achieving the reunification of the motherland, and the most serious hidden danger to national rejuvenation,” he said.
“Those who forget their heritage, betray their motherland, and seek to split the country will come to no good end… the Taiwan question is purely an internal matter for China, one which brooks no external interference. The historical task of the complete reunification of the motherland must be fulfilled, and will definitely be fulfilled,” Xi asserted.
In response, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which makes policies related to China, released a statement calling on Beijing to “abandon its provocative steps of intrusion, harassment and destruction” and return to talks.
Taiwan is claimed by Beijing as part of its own territory and has been complaining of increasing Chinese incursions into its airspace and waterways over the past two years. Tensions between the two have escalated to an all-time high over the last two weeks as almost 150 Chinese military aircraft breached the self-governing island’s air defence identification zone.
Increasing Chinese interference in Taiwan has sparked concerns on the island. Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said last week that Taiwan was “very concerned” that China “is going to launch a war against Taiwan at some point.” “We are very concerned [that] if domestic [in China] discontent or economic slowdown is getting very serious, Taiwan could become a target,” he told Australia’s ABC News.
Additionally, Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters in Taipei last week that “Taiwan must be on alert” because “China is more and more over the top.” Echoing the sentiment, Taiwanese defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said that Taiwan’s military tensions with China are “at their worst in more than 40 years.”
Taiwan Pledges to Defend its Sovereignty while China Vows Reunification
Taiwan said there should be “no illusions that the Taiwanese people will bow to pressure.” On the same day, Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed for a peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan.
October 11, 2021
SOURCE: WALID BERRAZEG/SOPA IMAGES