Status: 10.10.2021 11:53 a.m.
Taiwan is one of the major trouble spots in the world – and the situation is worsening. After the leadership in Beijing made it very clear yesterday that it sees Taiwan as part of China, a clear answer came from Taipei.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has rejected China’s party leader Xi Jinping’s call for “reunification.” “There should be absolutely no illusions that the Taiwanese people will bow to pressure,” said Tsai in a speech on the national day in the capital Taipei.
The island republic will expand its defense to ensure that no one can force Taiwan to take the path that Beijing has mapped out. This offers “neither a free and democratic life, nor sovereignty” for the 23 million Taiwanese.
Xi: Could “end up badly”
The president responded to the call by China’s state and party leaders the previous day to join the Communist People’s Republic. The communist leadership in Beijing is threatening a violent conquest of Taiwan, which is seen as an “inseparable part” of the People’s Republic.
“The complete reunification of our country will and can be achieved,” said China’s state and party leader Xi yesterday. Association by “peaceful means” would best serve the nation. However, he warned that a split in Taiwan would “have a bad ending”. Xi also warned against foreign interference: “The Taiwan issue is a purely internal matter for China and does not allow outside interference.”
A clear symbol: the National Day military parade in Taiwan.
Image: EPA
Aircraft sent to Taiwan
The Taiwan conflict goes back to the Chinese civil war. In 1949, the communists, led by Mao Zedong, drove the nationalists who had ruled China to Taiwan. The island has governed itself since then and has developed into a living democracy since the 1980s, while the People’s Republic of China is a dictatorship.
The Beijing government has never ruled out using military force to take control of Taiwan. Last week the People’s Republic sent 149 planes to Taiwan, 52 planes at once in the largest operation of its kind.
Same fate as Hong Kong?
Polls show that the majority of the Taiwanese population does not want to be ruled by Beijing. Most Taiwanese are in favor of maintaining the status quo. However, more nationalistic attitudes are on the rise, especially among young people. Many fear that Taiwan could face the same fate as Hong Kong if Chinese influence increased.
In the former British crown colony of Hong Kong, the people were guaranteed extensive autonomy when they were returned to China in 1997. The principle of “one country, two systems”, which has long been pursued in Hong Kong, has now been replaced by “one country, one system” from the point of view of critics.