At a news conference marking the seventh anniversary of her presidency at the Presidential Office in Taipei, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday vowed to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait in the face of China’s political and military intimidation. “The global consensus is clear: The Taiwan Strait issue must be resolved peacefully; war is not an option. Neither side can change the status quo through non-peaceful means,” Tsai said.
As Taiwan has become a key word around the world and the Taiwan Strait has become the focal point of international discussion, cross-strait issues, which are no longer just a regional matter, must be managed from a global perspective.
“Maintaining the status quo of peace and stability is the consensus for the world and Taiwan,” Tsai said.
The consensus was also mentioned in the joint communique following the G7 summit over the weekend. Signatories included Australia, Brazil, India, South Korea, Indonesia etc., which have expressed concern about situation in the East and South China seas, and strongly “oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion “
The leaders of major democratic countries called for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues, and reaffirm “the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as indispensable to security and prosperity in the international community.”
US President Joe Biden further said that “there is clear understanding among most of our allies that, in fact, if China were to act unilaterally, there would be a response.”
It is not only the G7 that has stressed the importance of stability in the Taiwan Strait: The EU, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, major Asian powers including Japan, South Korea and India, as well as Australia, also repeatedly expressed their opposition to any unilateral changes to the “status quo” by force, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues in accordance with international law.
Peace in the Taiwan Strait has become a top agenda item for the international community. The Taiwan issue has been a critical part of the global strategic alliance of democratic countries to counter autocratic regimes seeking to change the global order, namely China, Russia and North Korea.
While trying to improve diplomatic relations and economic engagement with the global community after the COVID-19 pandemic, China should take note of the growing calls for peace in the Taiwan Strait in response to its coercive actions in the region and allow leeway for engagement with the world, instead of spouting more military threats.
Maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” on the basis of Taiwan’s freedom and sovereignty is also the largest common denominator among Taiwanese. While the international community supports stability in the region, Taiwan should show solidarity in defending itself.
In her address, Tsai said that Taiwan will not provoke a conflict and will never bow to pressure, adding: “Taiwan is never a risk creator, but a reasonable risk manager,” and vowed that the nation would stand with democratic countries and communities around the world to jointly defuse global threats, including by resolving differences with China through dialogue and an equal footing.
The candidates in next year’s presidential election should reveal their cross-strait stances not only to unite the country, but also to respond to the international community, so that the voters can make the best choice for Taiwan to share the responsibility for international peace.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to bully Taiwan by conducting military drills extremely close to Taiwan in late May 2024 and announcing a legal opinion in June on how they would treat “Taiwan Independence diehards” according to the PRC’s Criminal Code. This article will describe how China’s Anaconda Strategy of psychological and legal asphyxiation is employed. The CCP’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) conducted a “punishment military exercise” against Taiwan called “Joint Sword 2024A” from 23-24 May 2024, just three days after President William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was sworn in and
Former US president Donald Trump’s comments that Taiwan hollowed out the US semiconductor industry are incorrect. That misunderstanding could impact the future of one of the world’s most important relationships and end up aiding China at a time it is working hard to push its own tech sector to catch up. “Taiwan took our chip business from us,” the returnee US presidential contender told Bloomberg Businessweek in an interview published this week. The remarks came after the Republican nominee was asked whether he would defend Taiwan against China. It is not the first time he has said this about the nation’s
In a recent interview with the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) called President William Lai (賴清德) “naive.” As always with Ma, one must first deconstruct what he is saying to fully understand the parallel universe he insists on defending. Who is being “naive,” Lai or Ma? The quickest way is to confront Ma with a series of pointed questions that force him to take clear stands on the complex issues involved and prevent him from his usual ramblings. Regarding China and Taiwan, the media should first begin with questions like these: “Did the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
The Yomiuri Shimbun, the newspaper with the largest daily circulation in Japan, on Thursday last week published an article saying that an unidentified high-ranking Japanese official openly spoke of an analysis that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) needs less than a week, not a month, to invade Taiwan with its amphibious forces. Reportedly, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has already been advised of the analysis, which was based on the PLA’s military exercises last summer. A Yomiuri analysis of unclassified satellite photographs confirmed that the PLA has already begun necessary base repairs and maintenance, and is conducting amphibious operation exercises