Taiwan’s president vowed Sunday to defend the island in the face of Chinese pressure on reunification, after a week of unprecedented tensions with Beijing.
An unusual demonstration of Taiwan’s defense capabilities at the annual parade during the island’s National Day celebrations underlined Tsai Ing-wen’s pledge to resist Chinese military threats.
We will do everything possible to prevent the status quo from being unilaterally altered, Tsai said. We will continue to strengthen our national defense and show our determination to defend ourselves to ensure that no one can force Taiwan to follow the path China has laid out for us.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, although the island has had an independent government since its break with the mainland in 1949 after a long civil war.
Tsai emphasized the island’s dynamic democracy in contrast to China’s deep authoritarianism, dominated by the one-party Communist Party system.
The path laid out by China offers neither a free and democratic way of life for Taiwan nor sovereignty for our 23 million people, the president added.
A choir with members of Taiwan’s various indigenous tribes sang to open the ceremony in front of the Presidential Office Building in downtown Taipei.
Polls on the island show an overwhelming majority in favor of maintaining its de facto independent state and a firm rejection of unification with China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territorial unit, liable to be controlled by force if necessary.
Tsai, who does not usually explicitly mention China in her public speeches, admitted that the increasingly tense situation facing Taiwan in the face of Chinese military harassment has worsened over the past year. Since September last year, China has sent fighter jets toward Taiwan more than 800 times.
Since last Friday, China has sent a record number of fighters into international airspace near Taiwan.
As a result of these tensions, the island has strengthened its unofficial ties with Japan, Australia and the United States. But the more we achieve, the more pressure we face from China, he said.
Following Tsai’s speech, the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense demonstrated weaponry in a parade that included missile launchers and armored vehicles, while fighter jets and helicopters flew overhead.
Tsai said Taiwan wants to contribute to the peaceful development of the region, although the situation is becoming more tense and complex in the Indo-Pacific.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday that reunification with Taiwan should be completed and asserted that peaceful reunification would be in the interests of the whole nation, including Taiwanese.
No one should underestimate the Chinese people’s firm determination, will and ability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said.
