Taiwan will defend itself, President Tsai
TAIWAN WILL DEFEND ITSELF against Chinese military aggression, President, Dr. Tsai Ing-wen assured during her recent National Day address in front of the Presidential Palace in Taipei.
“Over the past few years, we have stepped up defense reform and increased our defense budget in order to strengthen our national defense capabilities and resilience,” she said in her statement.
Tsai reiterated Taipei’s commitment to send strong global messages of the country’s willingness to work with allies in protecting their territorial integrity and maintaining national stability.
“Taiwan will take responsibility for our own self-defense. we will not leave anything to fate, and we will work with our allies to jointly maintain security and stability in the region,” the country’s leader assured.
Beijing wants Taipei reunified with the Peoples Republic and President Xi Jinping has made it publicly known he is prepared to us force to achieve that aim.
“The Taiwan problem is a matter for the Chinese people to solve, and it will be decided by the Chinese people,” Xi said at the opening of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) recent 20th Congress.
China with 1.4 billion inhabitants is the most populated country in the world.
President Xi said China will continue to “insist on striving for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and maximum efforts, but we will never promise to give up the option to use force and we reserve the right to take all necessary measures.”
US President, Joe Biden said Washington will support Taipei if China launches any military strike.
But Taiwan’s Tsai, the country’s first female leader, stressed that the south-eastern Asian nation is making significant strides in its self-defense programme to thwart any hostile Chinese takeover of the 13,976 square mile island.
“Our domestic efforts to build aircrafts and ships have achieved significant results in recent years, with our indigenous submarine project also progressing as planned. Just two weeks ago, Taiwan’s first domestically developed and constructed 10, 000-ton landing platform dock Yushan was officially delivered,” she recalled
Taipei is beefing up its military capabilities by sharpening military personnel with advancing the country’s defense self-sufficiency.
“Forming a military force that can effectively respond to the demands of modern warfare and building an overall mobilisation capability that integrates the military and the public are issues that demand our immediate attention. We must ensure that our preparations, supplies, and personnel can be resiliently, accurately, and promptly deployed to address any situation, whether in times of peace, disaster or war,” President Tsai declared.
To back these initiatives, nationals “must all rally around a common purpose and broaden public awareness of our self-defense needs. Protecting our territory and safeguarding our nation have never been the work of the military alone. Every citizen is a guardian of our nation. In recent times, we have seen Taiwanese of all ages and genders, including young parents, senior citizens, and students without military experience, take it upon themselves to participate in classes on community defense, first aid, and information awareness. This is the true meaning of collective participation in national defense,” she declared.
Tsai reminded islanders in her address that upholding peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is the joint responsibility of both sides. She said there is no room for compromise on their national sovereignty and free and democratic way of life.
These values, she emphasised, must be defended.
“The Beijing authorities should not make any misjudgment on account of Taiwan’s vigorous democratic system. They must not mistake that there is room for compromise in the Taiwanese people’s commitment to democracy and freedom and thus attempt to divide Taiwanese society by exploiting the fierce competition between our political parties. This way of thinking and acting is of no benefit to cross-strait relations and will only push our two sides further from each other,” she counselled.
“I want to make clear to the Beijing authorities that armed confrontation is absolutely not an option for our two sides. Only by respecting the commitment of the Taiwanese people to our sovereignty, democracy, and freedom can there be a foundation for resuming constructive interaction across the Taiwan Strait,” President Tsai said.
