Taiwan has warned that it will fight “to the end” if attacked by China: “We will wage a war if necessary”

Taiwan will fight “to the end” if China attacks it, the island’s foreign minister said on Wednesday, Joseph wu, who added that allies like Japan or the United States they “closely follow” the latest military maneuvers in Beijing near their territory.

“We are ready to defend ourselves and there is no doubt that we will wage a war if we have to fight it, and if we have to defend ourselves until the last day, we will. We are ready to increase our defense budget, reorganize our army or try to strengthen our reserve forces, ”Wu said at a press conference with international media.

The statements took place amid growing tension between Taipei and Beijing, caused by the increase in the number of incursions by the latter into the territory of the former. In fact, the Chinese navy said on Tuesday that it would continue to conduct training exercises in waters near Taiwan “on a regular basis” and confirmed that the Liaoning aircraft carrier had carried out these actions recently.

Likewise, the Taiwanese Defense Portfolio announced that A total of 15 Chinese military planes flew over its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday.

On March 26, Taiwanese authorities reported the detection of the largest incursion of Chinese military planes into their ADIZ – an area not regulated by any international agreement – since September of last year, hours after Taipei and Washington signed their first agreement with the administration of Joe Biden.

And today, the head of the government body in charge of Taiwanese maritime policy, Lee Chung-wei said Chinese drones have been detected near the disputed Pratas Islands. If they enter Taiwanese waters, he warned, they could be shot.

“I believe our allies, like Japan or the United States, are closely monitoring (the situation),” the island’s foreign minister said.

Relations between Taipei and Beijing have cracked since the arrival to power in 2016 of the current Taiwanese president, the independentist Tsai Ing-wen.

Tensions between the two sides continued to increase dramatically during Donald Trump’s tenure (2017-2021), which prioritized strengthening relations with Taiwan – including arms sales – while since 1979 relations between Washington and Taipei are officially informal.

“The defense of Taiwan is our responsibility. We take it very seriously because, if we are not prepared to defend ourselves, we have no right to ask other countries to sacrifice themselves for Taiwan. “Wu said today after being asked whether Taipei is looking to buy more weapons from the United States.

On the other hand, the Defense portfolio announced on Wednesday that it would carry out its military exercises organized each year from July 12 to 16 in order to “increase the defensive capacities” of the island and “to prevent any enemy from dying. ‘attack Taiwan’. at Radio Taiwan International.

Before, April 23, Taiwan to carry out another simulation, using computers, of “all possible invasion scenarios” of the island, depending on the portfolio.

Wu also recalled that Taiwan had been “threatened militarily” by China “for years”., and that this is not a “particularly alarming” situation, but he also indicated that “in recent years” the frequency of Chinese military maneuvers near the island has increased.

“I think they understand that Taiwan is not going to shoot first and start a war with China.” said Wu, who considered Xi Jinping’s regime “to take every opportunity to threaten Taiwan.”

“Faced with the expansionism of Chinese authoritarianism, Taiwan is on the front line. And we must protect ourselves, protect our sovereignty and our territorial integrity, and at the same time understand that we have a responsibility to protect democracy and freedom. Taiwan is a free place and we must make sure that it remains free, ”Taiwan’s foreign minister said at the conference.

Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China since the end of the civil war fought over 70 years ago when the nationalist troops of the Kuomintang took refuge on the island after the victory of the Communists.

Since then, the territory has been governed autonomously under the name of the Republic of China.

For its part, the Hong Kong newspaper Morning Message from South China reported that in recent days Several US military ships have also sailed in the waters of the East China Sea and the South China Sea., and they have conducted training exercises with regional allies like Japan.

The presence of US ships in the South China Sea, some analysts say, serves to send a message of support to the philippines, which the government recently described as a “lie” that the more than 200 Chinese ships anchored in these waters protect themselves from adverse weather conditions.

While Beijing assures that these boats are fishing boats, Manila denounces that it is a maritime militia which serves to consolidate Chinese control over these waters.

With information from EFE

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