In his most eminently open target since taking office earlier this year, President William Lai has pledged to preserve Taiwan’s self-governing position.
In a thinly-veiled allusion to China’s say over the beach, Lai said he would “uphold the determination to withstand invasion or incursion upon our sovereignty”.
Lai also pledged to support Beijing in achieving its goal of maintaining” the status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and to work with it on issues like climate change, viral disease, and regional stability.
Responding to Lai’s statement, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “exposed his obstinate place” on Taiwan freedom.
Just nine days after Communist China celebrated its 75th celebration, Lai addressed a group in Taipei to pay homage to Taiwan’s National Day.
” The Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are no employees to each other”, he said, in a guide to the institutions of Taipei and Beijing both.
” On this property, democracy and freedom are thriving. The People’s Republic of China has not right to represent Taiwan”, he added.
In an effort to reassure visitors that he would not further aggravate Beijing, Lai had previously stated that there would be” no upsets” in his national time address.
The statement came after President Lai’s recent remarks, which some thought were controversial.
” The talk was much softer and less witty than his current speeches”, Lev Nachman, a social scientist at the National Taiwan University, told the BBC in reference to Thursday’s target. It gives China “far less weapons to use against him” says the statement.
” Nevertheless”, he added,” Beijing will still find many reasons to hate this speech”.
Mr. Nachman predicted a strong response from Beijing in the form of additional military activities in the coming weeks.
Calling him “intransigent” on democracy, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticised Lai’s speech and his” sinister intent to intensify tensions in the Taiwan Strait in order to find social profits”.
No matter what the Lai Ching-te Administration says or does, it will not be able to change the fact that China shares two sides of the Taiwan Strait, nor will it be able to reverse the historical pattern that China is unavoidably and eventually reunified, Mao Ning told reporters on Thursday using Lai’s Chinese brand.
Last year, Lai said it was “absolutely difficult” for China to be the “motherland” of Taiwan because the region’s state was founded in 1911, years before the latest Communist government of island China was founded in 1949.
” On the contrary, the Republic of China may truly be the country of members of the People’s Republic of China who are over 75 years older”, Lai said at a concert to indicate Taiwan’s National Day on Saturday.
Taiwan adheres to the laws of the Republic of China, which was established on the Chinese mainland. The Republic of China government fled to Taiwan after losing a protracted civil war with the Communists in 1949, and it has remained there ever since.
Last month, Lai also questioned China’s assertion that its claim over the self-ruled island was based on territorial integrity. He suggested that Beijing would be pushing to reclaim other so-called historic lands that once belonged to the Chinese empire if that were the case.
” If China wants to annex Taiwan… it’s not for the sake of territorial integrity”, Lai said, in an interview to mark his first 100 days in office.
” If it is really for the sake of territorial integrity, why does n’t China take back Russia”?
Lai made reference to the Treaty of Aigun of 1858, which saw China cede large swathes of Manchuria to Russia. The concession took place during the “century of humiliation,” which is referred to as by China as the “century of humiliation,” when the West and Japan took advantage of the weak Qing Dynasty.
On Wednesday, China’s government responded by saying President Lai was escalating tensions with” sinister intentions”.
The statement from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office reads,” Lai Ching-te’s Taiwan independence fallacy is just old wine in a new bottle, and again exposes his obstinate stance on Taiwan independence and his sinister intentions of escalating hostility and confrontation.”
After his election in January, Lai succeeded Taiwan’s previous president Tsai Ing-wen, who also came from the Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP ).
Many political observers believe Lai’s recent public statements to be further than those made by his predecessor, who was much more cautious in her public statements.
In spite of his administration’s more confrontational tone, however, Lai has stressed his position of maintaining the” status quo” between Taiwan and China.
He claims that Taiwan is exempt from declaring independence because it is already a sovereign independent nation that has never been under the control of the People’s Republic of China.
Lai also devoted a considerable amount of Thursday’s speech to domestic issues such as energy, climate change and housing.