Taiwan's Lai says the island will not give up freedom in National Day speech
Lai drew Beijing's criticism, accusing him of disregarding facts.
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Taiwan cherishes peace but will not give up its freedom, in a speech marking the island’s National Day on Saturday as tensions over Taiwan persist between the U.S. and China.
Lai's speech soon drew Beijing's criticism, accusing him of disregarding facts and misleading the public.
Taiwan has faced growing military and political pressure from China, which views the island democracy as a breakaway province to be retaken by force if necessary. In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump that he hoped the U.S. would adhere to “the correct position of opposing ‘Taiwan independence’” during his visit to Washington.
Lai said China has exerted pressure in an attempt to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, and the island’s “resolve” is not just about its own survival in the face of “authoritarian expansion.” It’s also about whether the international community still believes that force cannot override rules, he said.
Lai said Taiwan’s increased defense investment is intended to deter war, not provoke it.
“We are strengthening our self-defense not to abandon dialogue, but to ensure that dialogue can take place on the basis of parity and dignity,” he said.
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when a civil war brought the Communist Party to power in Beijing. Defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan. The island has operated with its own government since then.
China has pressed Washington to halt arms sales to Taiwan, most prominently during a May summit in Beijing between Trump and Xi. After that meeting, a record $14 billion U.S. arms package to the island stalled.
In September, Xi asked the U.S. to handle the Taiwan issue “prudently.”
Lai said Saturday that Taiwan welcomed dialogue between China and the U.S. to manage their competition and reduce the risk of conflict and war, but pointed out that maintaining peace requires a correct understanding of history.
“There must be respect for the right of the people of Taiwan to exist,” he said. “Democracies in the Indo-Pacific must join forces to ensure the status quo of peace and stability in the region is not changed.”
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reported that 21 Chinese military aircraft and seven navy ships operated around Taiwan in a 24-hour period ending at 6 a.m. Saturday, with 13 of the aircraft crossing the median line in the Taiwan Strait and entering the island’s air defense identification zone.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhang Han criticized Lai for what she called stubbornly clinging to a “Taiwan independence” mindset in his speech, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.
Zhang said Lai hyped up the idea of a threat from the mainland and promoted the false narrative of “democracy versus authoritarianism," accusing him of attempting to pursue independence through military means and by relying on foreign forces.
He was stoking confrontation across the strait and undermining peace and stability, she said, according to Xinhua.
Foreign guests, including Eswatini King Mswati III and Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith of Indiana, offered their congratulations in Taiwan, Lai's office said. Eswatini is Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Africa. A Japanese parliamentary delegation also visited the island and joined the celebrations.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi infuriated Beijing last November by saying that any Chinese move against Taiwan could prompt a Japanese military response.
The National Day celebration marks the establishment of the Republic of China, which overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911. The Nationalist government relocated to Taiwan in 1949, as Mao Zedong’s Communists swept to power on the mainland during the civil war.
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Leung reported from Hong Kong.
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