Taiwan President: We ‘Will Not Bow to Pressure’ From Communist China
In the face of unprecedented Chinese assault, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen declared the country would not “bend down to coercion” despite calls for “reunification.”
“On cross-strait relations, our attitude is unchanged: neither our goodwill nor our obligations will change,” she said.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen (L) and Vice President William Lai applaud during national day celebrations in front of the Presidential Palace in Taipei on October 10, 2021. (Photo by Sam Yeh / AFP) (Photo by SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)
“We demand that the status quo be maintained, and we will do everything possible to prevent the status quo from being unilaterally altered.”
Despite her hopes for improved relations with China, Tsai emphasized that the “Taiwanese people will not cave to pressure.”
We will continue to strengthen our national defense and demonstrate our resolve to defend ourselves so that no one can force Taiwan to follow the route China has set for us,” she said.
“This is because China’s approach does not provide Taiwan with a free and democratic way of life or sovereignty for our 23 million people.”
The president made her forceful statement just one day after Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “national reunification” with Taiwan, which has been a sovereign nation for more than 70 years since the Chinese Communist Party took control of the mainland and the nationalist government fled to the tiny island.
“Peaceful national reunification best serves the interests of the Chinese people as a whole, including our compatriots in Taiwan,” Xi remarked.
“Those who forget their ancestry, betray their motherland, and strive to divide the country will be despised by the people and condemned by history,” he warned.
Taiwanese military vehicles take part in a national day parade in front of the Presidential Palace in Taipei on October 10, 2021. (Photo by Sam Yeh / AFP) (Photo by SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)
According to reports monitored by Touchaheart Nigeria on Reuters, President Tsai Ing-wen marked the occasion by displaying the country’s military might,
“with fighter planes roaring through the sky above the presidential office and truck-mounted missile launchers among other weaponry passing in front of the stage where she sat.”
Taiwan’s military display came less than a week after the communist government launched a record-breaking number of nearly 150 planes into Taiwan’s air defense zone.
Reuters
