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Tsai Ing-wen said that Taiwan will continue to strengthen its defenses “to ensure that no one can force” Taiwan to “accept the path China has opened for us.”
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said that her people will not succumb to pressure from China and promised to continue to strengthen Taiwan’s defenses to protect its democratic way of life.
Tsai Ing-wen’s strong counterattack on Sunday was the second day of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s promise To achieve “peaceful reunification” with autonomous territories again.
Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, Beijing has increased its military and political pressure on Taiwan to accept its rule.
This includes the repeated execution of Chinese Air Force missions in the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone. In the first week of October alone, Beijing dispatched about 149 military aircraft to the vicinity of the island, forcing Taiwan to dispatch fighter jets urgently and arousing international attention.
In a speech at a rally held to commemorate Taiwan’s National Day, Tsai Ing-wen said that she hoped that the tension on both sides of the Taiwan Strait would ease.
She said that her government will not “act rashly”, but “it should never be imagined that the people of Taiwan will succumb to pressure.”
She said in her speech outside the presidential palace in downtown Taipei that Taiwan will “continue to strengthen its national defense and show our determination to defend ourselves to ensure that no one can force Taiwan to follow the path China has set for us.”
“This is because the path China has opened up has neither provided Taiwan with a free and democratic way of life, nor has it provided sovereignty for our 23 million people.”
On Sunday, October 10, 2021, the military honor guard participates in the National Day celebrations in front of the Presidential Palace in Taipei, Taiwan [Chiang Ying-ying/ AP]
On Sunday, October 10, 2021, a woman holds and wears the Taiwanese flag during the National Day celebrations held in front of the Presidential Palace in Taipei, Taiwan [Chiang Ying-ying/ AP]Formally known as the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan is a democratically managed island about 161 kilometers (100 miles) from the coast of mainland China. Since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the two sides have ruled separately. Chiang Kai-shek’s defeated nationalists established a government in Taipei, and the Communist Party established the People’s Republic of China in Beijing.
Beijing has strongly forced Taiwan to accept its rule, and the tension rate has risen to its highest XI. He communicated with Taipei officials after the election of Mr. Cai five years ago.
Beijing calls Cai a separatist and refuses to recognize Taiwan as part of “one China.”
Tsai Ing-wen is overseeing a military modernization plan to strengthen Taiwan’s defenses and deterrence, including building its own submarines, and on Sunday reiterated his proposal for dialogue with China on an “equality” basis.
She said that Taiwan’s goodwill will not change and will do everything possible to prevent unilateral changes to the status quo with China.
Tsai Ing-wen went on to warn that the situation in Taiwan is “more complex and changeable than at any time in the past 72 years,” and said that China’s routine military presence in Taiwan’s air defense zone has seriously affected national security and aviation safety.
She added that Taiwan is on the front line of defending democracy.
“The more we achieve, the greater the pressure we face from China. So I want to remind all my compatriots that we do not have the privilege to relax our vigilance.”
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