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Taiwan president says island 'will not bow' to China's pressure

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Agence France-Presse

<p>TAIPEI — Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday that China was attempting to force the self-ruled island into submission but that it would not bow to pressure.</p><p>China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will never renounce the use of force to bring it under Beijing&#x27;s control.</p><p>In recent years, Beijing has upped military and political pressure on the Taipei government, with the latest show of force coming three days after Lai&#x27;s inauguration, when China conducted war games around the island.</p><p>Speaking at a Wednesday press conference marking his first month in office, Lai said: &quot;The annexation of Taiwan is a national policy of the People&#x27;s Republic of China&quot;.</p><p>&quot;In addition to military force, they have increasingly employed non-traditional methods of coercion to try to force Taiwan into submission,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;However, Taiwan will not bow to the pressure. The people of Taiwan will resolutely defend national sovereignty and uphold the democratic and free constitutional way of life.&quot;</p><p>China had said the war games — launched days after Lai&#x27;s May 20 inauguration — were &quot;punishment&quot; for his inaugural speech, which Beijing dubbed a &quot;confession of Taiwan independence&quot;.</p><p>Encircling Taiwan with warships, fighter jets and coastguard vessels, China said the three-day drills — dubbed Joint Sword-2024A — were a test of its ability to seize control of the island.</p><p>After the exercises, Beijing vowed military pressure would continue &quot;as long as &#x27;Taiwan independence&#x27; provocations continue&quot;.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/5/20/taiwan-swears-in-new-president-as-china-pressure-grows-901">READ: Taiwan swears in new president as China pressure grows</a></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div><strong>US weapons sale<br/></strong></div><p>Taiwan — separated from China by a narrow 180-kilometer (110-mile) strait — has its own government, military and currency.</p><p>As China has increased pressures around the island, Taiwan has sought to strengthen economic ties with friendly countries while ramping up military purchases from the United States, a key partner.</p><p>The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 but it has remained Taiwan&#x27;s biggest arms supplier, sparking repeated condemnations from China.</p><p>On Tuesday, the US Pentagon in Washington announced the approval of two arms sales to Taiwan: $300 million in unmanned aerial vehicles, and $60.2 million for equipment including more than 700 Switchblades — a miniature, precision-guided missile.</p><p>Taiwan&#x27;s defence ministry on Wednesday thanked Washington for the approval of the deals, which are expected to take effect in a month&#x27;s time.</p><p>&quot;In the face of the Chinese Communist Party&#x27;s frequent military operations around Taiwan, the US side in this case agreed to sell arms items that... can respond quickly to enemy threats,&quot; the ministry said in a statement.</p><p>Earlier this month, Washington also approved the sale of equipment and parts for F-16 fighter jets worth approximately $300 million.</p><p>Lai on Wednesday thanked the United States for its support, reiterating the need to develop &quot;resilience&quot; in Taiwan&#x27;s defence strategy.</p><p>&quot;The people of Taiwan love peace and are kind to others, but peace must be backed by strength. Achieving peace through preparedness is the way to avoid conflict,&quot; he said.</p><p>The new president is regarded as a &quot;dangerous separatist&quot; by China and has hewed closely to the rhetoric of his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, saying that there is no need for Taiwan to formally declare independence as it is &quot;already independent&quot;</p><p>Lai and Tsai&#x27;s Democratic Progressive Party has long asserted Taiwanese sovereignty, and China has not conducted top-level communications with Taipei since 2016.</p><p>During his inaugural speech in May, Lai signalled an openness to resuming dialogue with Beijing, calling for both sides to develop exchanges.</p><p>China, however, has appeared to rebuff those overtures.</p><p>It continues to maintain a near-daily presence of naval vessels and warplanes around the island, so-called grey zone tactics that fall short of an outright act of war but serve to exhaust Taiwan&#x27;s military.</p><p>In recent months, Chinese coast guard ships have also been spotted around Taiwan&#x27;s outlying islands, at times briefly entering its restricted waters.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bBPxvSSekqc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday that China was attempting to force the self-ruled island into submission but that it would not bow to pressure.</p>

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Wednesday that China was attempting to force the self-ruled island into submission but that it would not bow to pressure.