Armed confrontation between Taiwan and China is “absolutely out of the question”, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said on Monday, as she also pledged to strengthen the island’s defenses and reiterated her willingness to talk with Beijing. Democratic Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, has come under increasing military and political pressure from Beijing, particularly after China’s war games in early August following a visit to Taipei by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In her national address outside the presidential office, Tsai said it was “regrettable” that China had escalated its intimidation and threatened peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region. China should not think there is room for compromise in the Taiwanese people’s commitment to democracy and freedom, she said. “I want to make it clear to the Beijing authorities that armed confrontation is absolutely not possible for our two sides.
” Only by respecting the Taiwanese people’s commitment to our sovereignty, democracy and freedom can the basis for renewed constructive interaction across the Taiwan Strait be established. Tsai said her government looked forward to the gradual post-pandemic resumption of healthy and orderly cross-strait people-to-people exchanges, which would ease tensions. But Taiwan will show the world that it is taking responsibility for its own defense, she added.
Taiwan is ramping up mass production of precision missiles and high-powered naval vessels, and is working to acquire small, highly mobile weapons that will ensure Taiwan is fully prepared to respond to “external military threats,” Tsai said. She has made strengthening Taiwan’s defenses a cornerstone of her administration to enable it to more credibly deter China, which is launching an ambitious program to modernize its own military. Taiwan tells China armed confrontation is ‘absolutely out of the question’
