Taiwan president assured they cannot force the island to go down China’s chosen path

The President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, He demanded this Sunday to strengthen the island’s defenses to show that “no one can force Taiwan to take the path that China has chosen” for a territory whose sovereignty claims Beijing, which considers it a rebellious province.

In his speech on National ROC Day, Taiwan’s official name, the island’s chief added that Beijing “offers neither a free and democratic way of life for Taiwan nor sovereignty for its 23 million inhabitants” in the vision proposed by the Chinese authorities for what they call “reunification”.

Tsai’s message comes so alone a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping said China “can and will” reunite with Taiwan, leaving aside on this occasion the threat to do so by force – he referred to the “basic principle of ‘peaceful reunification'” – and to propose integration into the People’s Republic within the framework of “a country, two systems “applied in Macao or Hong Kong and which guarantees a certain autonomy.

This offer appears to continue to fail the Taiwanese authorities, with Tsai specifically targeting Beijing’s increasingly blatant control over Hong Kong in response to the 2019 protests and the latest political changes: “After taking full control of Hong Kong and cracking down on pro-democracy activists, the Beijing authorities also strayed from the path of political and economic development. which started (…) decades ago ”.

Tsai made it clear, referring to the growing tension with the Chinese regime, that “Under no circumstances should you have the impression that the Taiwanese will give in to the pressure.”

The president affirmed that the future of Taiwan “is decided according to the will of the Taiwanese” after talking about a renewed commitment to democracy and freedom or resistance to attempts at annexation or invasion.

PROTECTOR EL ‘STATE’

Regarding relations with China – which the Taiwanese defense minister said is going through “their worst moment in 40 years” – Tsai said there has been no change in Taiwan’s position: “We demand that the ‘status quo’ be maintained, we will do everything possible so that it is not changed unilaterally.”

“To resolve disputes (with China), the two parties must engage in a dialogue based on equality “, said the policy, in office since 2016.

Despite this apparent outstretched hand, Tsai acknowledged that Taiwan “finds itself in a more complex and variable situation than at any time in the past 72 years”, that is, since the nationalists of the Kuomintang (KMT) lost the civil war against the communists and withdrew to the island, where they continued with the ROC regime, which eventually made a transition towards democracy in the 1990s.

Despite these changes and “the alert to the expansion of authoritarianism”, the president of the island assured that “More and more Democratic friends are ready to defend” Taiwan, underlining the evolution of relations with Japan, the United States or the European Union.

“In Washington, Tokyo, Canberra and Brussels, Taiwan is no longer on the sidelines. (…) Taiwan is no longer considered “the orphan of Asia”, but as an island of resistance who can face challenges with courage, ”Tsai said.

Of course, the president acknowledged that the success of Taiwan – a leader in key industries such as semiconductors and one of the territories that has best controlled the pandemic – also has other consequences: “The more we get, the more pressure we face from China. (…) We do not have the privilege of being able to lower our guard ”.

(With information from AFP)

KEEP READING: