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 “war is not is not an option”.
Coming from a party that traditionally campaigns for the island’s independence, Ms Tsai said that during her tenure, the population – around 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 manner,” Ms. Tsai said, adding, “We will not be provocative or aggressive and we certainly will not back down.” with pressure “.
“DNA” of democracy
Taiwan is preparing for the next presidential election to be held in January 2024 and is seen as a referendum on Ms Tsai’s posture vis-à-vis Beijing.
The 66-year-old president has already served two terms and cannot stand for re-election due to term limits. Its Vice President William Lai was chosen as the candidate for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
Mr. Lai, 63, was more outspoken than Ms. Tsai about Taiwan’s independence drive, saying 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 opposition Kuomintang party, which has traditionally favored a rapprochement with Beijing.
Mr. Lai said the upcoming elections would mark a choice “between democracy and authoritarianism”, which Mr. Hou strongly denied at a rally of his party on Saturday.
“Freedom and democracy are already in our DNA. […] More than ever, we must, through dialogue and interaction, find ways to reduce the risk of conflict and maintain stability in the region,” he said, accusing the vice president of trying to divide the population by sowing fear.
Asked about his stance on China at a recent city council session, Hou said he opposes Taiwan independence and the “one country, two systems” model used in Hong Kong.
Beijing proposed the “one country, two systems” model for Taiwan as well, but a majority of Taiwanese rejected it, especially after China’s crackdown on political freedoms in Hong Kong.
Beijing has warned that any move by Taiwan towards a formal declaration of independence will prompt a military response.