(Taipei) Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te pledged Thursday to “resist the annexation” of the island, which China claims as part of its territory to be reunited one day.
Mr. Lai, inaugurated in May, gave a speech on the occasion of the National Day, an event which raised fears of military maneuvers by Beijing around Taiwan.
“I will also maintain the commitment to resist the annexation or encroachment of our sovereignty,” President Lai said outside the Taipei Presidential Palace.
Relations between Beijing and Taipei have been terrible since 2016 and the arrival as Taiwanese president of Tsai Ing-wen, then of her successor Lai Ching-te.
Beijing calls Mr. Lai a “separatist” and accused him Tuesday of fueling “hostilities,” according to its state media, after Mr. Lai said it was “impossible” for China to be the “motherland” of Taiwan.
“Our determination to defend our national sovereignty remains unchanged”, as do “our efforts to maintain the status quo of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” located between the island and China, assured Mr. Lai on Thursday , under the eyes of Mme Tsai or even the pro-independence ex-president Chen Shui-bian.
Beijing has intensified its military and political pressure on Taiwan in recent years. He never gave up using military force to regain control.
It has organized three series of large-scale maneuvers in the past two years, using its air force and navy to encircle the island.
Beijing also sends warships and fighter planes to patrol the surrounding area almost daily.
Taiwan on alert
PHOTO ANN WANG, REUTERS
Soldiers prepare to celebrate Taiwan’s National Day.
According to a senior US official interviewed on Wednesday, China could use the Taiwanese celebrations on Thursday to justify the conduct of military exercises.
“Even if we have not observed any military activity or significant maneuvers following previous speeches on October 10 (for the national holiday, editor’s note), we are prepared that Beijing may choose to use them as a a pretext this year,” said this source to the press.
On Wednesday, a senior security official told AFP that Taiwan was on alert due to Chinese maneuvers nearby that had resulted in “several maritime deployments.”
Twenty-seven Chinese military planes and nine Chinese naval vessels were identified around the island in the space of 24 hours, from Wednesday to Thursday, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said on the morning of the National Day.
Celebrations mark 113e anniversary of the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and the founding of the Republic of China.
Foreign guests include three members of the United States Congress and representatives from several of the 12 states that still maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, including Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo.
Washington has recognized Beijing to the detriment of Taipei as a legitimate power since 1979, but remains Taiwan’s most powerful ally and its main arms supplier.
Disputes between Beijing and Taipei date back to the long and deadly civil war which pitted communist fighters led by Mao Tse-tung against the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek.
Defeated by the communists, who founded the People’s Republic of China on 1er October 1949, the nationalists of the Republic of China took refuge with many civilians in Taiwan, one of the only parts of the national territory then not conquered by the forces of Mao Tse-tung.
Taiwan has since had its own government, army and currency.
In his speech, President Lai said he hoped for “healthy and peaceful dialogue and exchanges” with Beijing, further urging it to use its influence to put an end to conflicts affecting the Middle East and Ukraine.
Noting a “softened tone” compared to Mr. Lai’s inauguration speech, Fang-yu Chen, assistant professor of political science at Soochow University in Taipei, believes that the references made to the history of the Republic of China when he speaks risks attracting the wrath of Beijing.
“This emphasis could provoke Beijing, since it suggests that Lai is claiming control of the historical narrative,” Mr. Chen said.