Beijing detests Lai, branding him a” separatist”, and has rejected multiple offers of talks by him.
A spokeswoman for China’s overseas ministry, asked on Friday about the potential for conflict game, said the Taiwan issue was the” base of China’s key interests”.
China’s unwavering commitment to protect its national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the first red line in Sino-US relations, Lin Jian said at a program press event in Beijing.
Lai refutes Beijing’s says of independence, arguing that Taiwan’s citizens are the ones who have a say in global affairs.
Lai reiterated that Taiwan needs to keep strengthening its defenses even though it wants to engage with China, and that he cannot have any doubts about harmony.
He continued, repeating remarks he made in Hawaii after visiting a monument to the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, that peace is valuable and there are no victors in a battle.
China has conducted two war games in Taiwan so far this year, one in May following Lai’s opening and the other in October following his federal time speech.
Before Donald Trump’s scheduled trip to the White House on January 20th, Lai spoke with US Congress officials in Guam on Thursday, including Speaker Mike Johnson of the House of Representatives.
Trump unnerved Taiwan during the US national campaign, saying the area” may compensate us for military” and that Taiwan had taken nearly all of the US semiconductor industry’s business.
Lai claimed that Taiwan has strong nonpartisan support in the US and that he was enthusiastic about establishing relations with the coming US presidency.
Taiwan is convinced that we can proceed to cooperate with the new US administration and stop authoritarianism.