Taiwan rejects China’s ‘path’ amid show of military force
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s president Sunday vowed to defend the island from China’s rising pressure for reunification, after a week of unprecedented tensions with Beijing.
Speaking at the island’s National Day celebrations, a rare show of Taiwanese defense capabilities in the annual parade underlined Tsai Ing-wen’s promise to resist Chinese military threats.
“We will do our utmost to prevent the status quo from being unilaterally altered,” President Tsai said.
“We will continue to bolster our national defense and demonstrate our determination to defend ourselves in order to ensure that nobody can force Taiwan to take the path China has laid out for us,” the Taiwanese leader added.
China claims Taiwan as part of its national territory although the island has been self-ruled since it split from the communist-ruled mainland in 1949 after a long civil war.
Tsai emphasized the island’s vibrant democracy in contrast with Beijing’s deeply authoritarian, single-party Communist state.
“The path that China has laid out offers neither a free and democratic way of life for Taiwan, nor sovereignty for our 23 million people,” Tsai said.
A choir of singers from Taiwan’s various indigenous tribes opened the ceremony in front of the Presidential Office Building in the center of the capital, Taipei.
Surveys show Taiwanese overwhelmingly favor their current de facto independent state and strongly rejects unification with China, which has vowed to bring the island under its control, by military force if necessary.
Tsai rarely singles out China in her public speeches, but in this speech acknowledged the increasing tensions that Taiwan faces as Chinese military harassment intensified in the past year. Since September of last year, China has flown fighter jets more than 800 times towards Taiwan.
Since Friday, China has sent a record-breaking number of fighter jets towards international airspace close to Taiwan.
The island has strengthened its unofficial ties with countries like Japan, Australia and the U.S. in the face of these perceived threats.
“But the more we achieve, the greater the pressure we face from China,” Tsai said in her speech.
Following the address, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense showed off a range of weaponry including missile launchers and armored vehicles while fighters jets and helicopters soared overhead. These included a formation of F-16, Indigenous Defense Fighters and Mirage 2000’s, which left wide white contrails in their wake.
The show of air power was followed by a group of CM32 tanks, followed later by trucks carrying missile systems.
Tsai said Taiwan wanted to contribute to peaceful regional development, even as the situation becomes “more tense and complex” in the Indo-Pacific.