President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said he was still ready to work with China, despite last week’s military drills around Taiwan.
The drills began on Thursday, just three days after Lai was sworn in, part of an escalating campaign of intimidation by China.
During the two-day drills, China said that what it described as “independence forces” would be left “with their heads broken and blood flowing.”
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are indispensable to global security and prosperity, Lai said, adding that any country that creates disturbance to destabilize the region would not be accepted by members of the international community.
As such, he wanted Taiwan and China to “jointly shoulder the important responsibility of regional stability,” Lai said on the sidelines of an event in Taipei.
“I also look forward to enhancing mutual understanding and reconciliation through exchanges and cooperation with China ... and moving toward a position of peace and common prosperity,” he said.
Communications between China and Taiwan were severed in 2016 after former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took office.
Lai, also a DPP member, has pledged to maintain Tsai’s policies of building up Taiwan’s defense capabilities, while remaining open to dialogue with China and reinforcing relations with Taiwan’s partners — particularly the US.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense reported that seven aircraft, 14 naval vessels and four coast guard ships belonging to China were “operating around” Taiwan in the 24-hour period ending at 6am yesterday.
Lai would “hold firm to project resolve” during this first interaction between his administration and Beijing, said Sung Wen-ti (宋文笛), a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.
“However he will no doubt be looking to leverage other international partners and friends to help facilitate more back-channel communications with Beijing,” he said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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