Taiwan Will Not Bow To Pressure From Beijing
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has rejected China’s party leader Xi Jinping’s call for “reunification.”
“There should be absolutely no illusions that the Taiwanese people will bow to pressure,” said Tsai in a speech on the national day in Taipei today.
The island republic will expand its defenses to ensure that no one can force Taiwa-n to take the route that Beijing has mapped out. This offers “neither a free and democratic life nor sovereignty” for the 23 million people in Taiwa-n.
Threats from Beijing
The president responded to the call by China’s state and party leaders the day before to join the Communist People’s Republic. Beijing threatens a forcible conquest of Taiwan, which is seen as an “inseparable part” of the People’s Republic.
“The complete reunification of our country will and can be achieved,” affirmed Xi. Association by “peaceful means” would best serve the nation. However, he warned that a split in Taiwan would “have a bad end.”
Taiwan’s president described relations with China as more complicated than ever in the past seven decades. At that time, the Chinese national Kuomintang troops fled to the island after being defeated in the civil war against the communists. The Republic of China, which was founded in the 1911 revolution after the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, has since continued to exist in Taiwa-n, which is also officially called that. Both sides celebrated the 110th anniversary of the 1911 revolution on Sunday.
