Global Courant 2023-05-20 07:55:00
TAIPEI – Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen on Saturday vowed to maintain the status quo of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait amid high tensions with China, which has stepped up military pressure on the island.
Taiwan will not provoke and will not bow to Chinese pressure, she said in a speech at the presidential office in Taipei marking the seventh anniversary of her rule.
China, which considers Taiwan its property and pledges to bring the island under its control if necessary, has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure to force Taipei to accept Chinese sovereignty since Ms Tsai took office in 2016.
Beijing has rejected calls for talks and considers her a separatist. She has repeatedly vowed to defend Taiwan’s freedom and democracy.
“War is not an option. Neither side can unilaterally change the status quo through non-peaceful means,” Ms Tsai said. “Maintaining the status quo of peace and stability is the consensus for both the world and Taiwan.”
“Although Taiwan is surrounded by risk, it is by no means a risk maker. We are a responsible risk manager and Taiwan will work with democratic countries and communities around the world to jointly defuse the risks,” she noted.
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G-7) rich countries agreed to seek a peaceful solution to the problems related to Taiwan, said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the host of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima , Friday.
Ms Tsai said Taiwanese officials are in talks with US President Joe Biden’s administration about sending weapons worth $500 million (S$672 million) to Taiwan, adding that the aid is intended to support arms deliveries to that have been delayed by Covid-19.
She emphasized the global importance of Taiwan, which produces the most advanced semiconductor chips in the world.
Ms. Tsai pledged to maintain the most advanced chip technologies and research and development centers on the island.
Taiwan is gearing up for a major presidential election in mid-January, with tensions in China at the top of the campaign agenda.
Representing Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT) for the main vote in mid-January, New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih said on Saturday that Taiwan faces a choice between “peace and war” under Ms Tsai’s rule . stability through unspecified “dialogue and exchanges”.
“The fear of war will never drive away the hope of peace,” Hou said at an event in Taipei to kick off his election campaign, vowing to defend Taiwan.
Hou is up against Vice President William Lai of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
The KMT, which favors close ties with China, has presented the 2024 vote as a choice between war and peace.
When asked in the presidential office about the opposition’s position on the election, Ms Tsai said that keeping the peace should be the consensus of all political parties in Taiwan, and that one should not “sell the fear of war for electoral gains”. REUTERS
