(Taipei) Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen vowed on Saturday to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait in the face of threats from Beijing, which claims the self-governing democratic island, saying that “war does not is not an option”.
Coming from a party that traditionally militates for the independence of the island, Mme Tsai said that during his tenure the people – some 24 million people – had shown the world “Taiwan’s determination to defend itself”.
“In the face of China’s civil attacks and military threats, people in Taiwan are calm and non-aggressive, rational and non-provocative,” she said on Saturday.
Beijing considers Taiwan as a province that it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. China is aiming for this reunification, by force if necessary.
Relations between Beijing and Taipei, at their lowest since Xi Jinping came to power more than 10 years ago, have deteriorated further in recent years and China has stepped up military incursions around the island.
War is not an option and neither side can unilaterally change the status quo in a non-peaceful way.
Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwanese President
Taiwan is preparing for the next presidential elections, which will be held in January 2024.
Mme Tsai, 66 and who has already served two terms, cannot stand for re-election due to term limits. Its Vice President William Lai was chosen as the candidate for the ruling Progressive Democratic Party.
PHOTO CHIANGYING-YING, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Taiwanese vice president and presidential candidate William Lai
Mr. Lai, 63, was more direct than Mr.me Tsai regarding Taiwan’s independence aspirations, declaring in January that he considered Taiwan a “sovereign country”.
He will face the popular mayor of the municipality of New Taipei, Hou Yu-ih, of the Kuomintang opposition party, favorable to Beijing.
China has said any move by Taiwan toward a formal declaration of independence would prompt a military response.