President William Lai has pledged to uphold Taiwan’s self-governing standing in his most high-profile public handle since taking workplace earlier this 12 months.
In a thinly-veiled reference to China’s declare over the island, Lai mentioned he would “uphold the dedication to withstand annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty.”
Lai was chatting with a crowd in Taipei to commemorate Taiwan’s Nationwide Day, solely 9 days after Communist China celebrated its seventy fifth anniversary.
On the identical time, Lai promised to take care of “the established order of peace and stability throughout the Taiwan Strait” and pledged to cooperate with Beijing on points similar to local weather change, combating infectious ailments and sustaining regional safety.
“The Republic of China and the Folks’s Republic of China are usually not subordinates to one another,” he mentioned, in a reference to the governments of Taipei and Beijing respectively.
Lai beforehand instructed guests there could be “no surprises” in his nationwide day handle, in a bid to reassure them that he wouldn’t do something additional to agitate Beijing.
The disclaimer adopted a number of speeches by President Lai over the previous few months that some seen as being provocative.
Final week, Lai mentioned it was “completely not possible” for China to be the “motherland” of Taiwan as a result of the island’s authorities was based in 1911, a long time earlier than the present Communist regime of mainland China was based in 1949.
“Quite the opposite, the Republic of China may very well be the motherland of residents of the Folks’s Republic of China who’re over 75 years outdated,” Lai mentioned at a live performance to mark Taiwan’s Nationwide Day on Saturday.
Taiwan maintains the structure of the Republic of China, which was based on the Chinese language mainland. When it misplaced an extended civil warfare with the Communists in 1949, the Republic of China authorities fled to Taiwan and has been primarily based there ever since.
Final month, Lai additionally questioned China’s assertion that its declare over the self-ruled island was primarily based on territorial integrity. If that have been the case, he recommended, Beijing would even be pushing to reclaim different so-called historic lands that when belonged to the Chinese language empire.
“If China desires to annex Taiwan… it isn’t for the sake of territorial integrity,” Lai mentioned, in an interview to mark his first 100 days in workplace.
“Whether it is actually for the sake of territorial integrity, why does not China take again Russia?”
Lai referenced the 1858 Treaty of Aigun, which noticed China concede giant swathes of Manchuria to Russia. The concession occurred throughout what China refers to because the “century of humiliation,” when Western powers and Japan exploited the weakened Qing Dynasty.
On Wednesday, China’s authorities responded by saying President Lai was escalating tensions with “sinister intentions”.
“Lai Ching-te’s Taiwan independence fallacy is simply outdated wine in a brand new bottle, and once more exposes his obstinate stance on Taiwan independence and his sinister intentions of escalating hostility and confrontation,” mentioned the assertion from China’s Taiwan Affairs Workplace.
After his election in January, Lai succeeded Taiwan’s earlier president Tsai Ing-wen, who additionally got here from the Democratic Progressive Occasion (DPP).
Lai’s public feedback thus far are regarded by many political observers as going additional than something mentioned by his predecessor, who was way more cautious in her public speeches.
Despite his administration’s extra strident and confrontational tone, nonetheless, Lai has harassed his place of sustaining the “established order” between Taiwan and China.
He insists Taiwan has no have to declare independence as a result of it’s already an unbiased sovereign nation that has by no means been managed by the Folks’s Republic of China.