China’s leadership once again demanded reunification from the island nation. But he announced that he would expand his defense in order to be able to preserve “a free and democratic life” and his sovereignty.
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 Ing-wen in a speech on the national day in Taipei on Sunday. 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.
The president responded to the call by the Chinese state and party leaders the day before to join the Communist People’s Republic. The leadership in Beijing is threatening a violent conquest of Taiwan, which it regards as an “inseparable part” of the People’s Republic. “The complete reunification of our country will and can be achieved,” affirmed Xi Jinping. Association by “peaceful means” would best serve the nation. However, he warned that a split in Taiwan would “have a bad ending”.
Taiwan’s president described relations with China as more complicated than ever in the past seven decades. At that time, the Chinese national Kuomintang troops fled to the island after being defeated in the civil war against the communists. The Republic of China, which was founded during the revolution and overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, has continued to exist on Taiwan, which is officially called that, ever since. Both sides celebrated the 110th anniversary of the 1911 revolution on Sunday.
Taiwan hopes that relations with China will ease off and will not act rashly, assured President Tsai Ing-wen. “We call for the status quo to be preserved and we will do everything we can to prevent the status quo from being changed unilaterally.” After Chinese military pilots had increasingly penetrated Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in recent weeks, local media reported that another military aircraft had been sighted and warned on Sunday morning.