President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in her New Year’s address yesterday urged Beijing to resume talks with Taipei to help maintain stability in the region.
“War is never an option for solving a problem,” Tsai said. “Only by boosting stable development in the region together through dialogue and collaboration can we bring security and happiness to more people.”
“It is the common responsibilities of the two sides across the Taiwan Strait to maintain stability in the region,” she said, adding she is looking forward to the resumption of regular exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait when the COVID-19 pandemic subsides
Photo: CNA
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) made only a brief reference to Taiwan in his New Year’s address on Saturday evening, saying that people on both sides of the Strait “are members of one and the same family.”
Some local media have speculated that Xi was using a softer tone concerning cross-strait relations as he did not specifically call for cross-strait unification in his Saturday address, although he did imply it.
Tsai, in response to media questions about Xi’s address, said Xi was using a more “gentle tone” in reference to cross-strait relations.
“But I want to remind people — the military activities of the People’s Liberation Army near Taiwan are not at all conducive to cross-strait relations nor regional peace and stability,” she said.
The Ministry of National Defense said that 24 Chinese People’s Liberation Army aircraft and four navy vessels were seen near Taiwan from 6am on Saturday to 6am yesterday, with 15 of the aircraft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait — a slightly higher number than the average daily figure.
Beijing has been aggressively ramping up pressure on Taiwan with military exercises over the past few months since US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August, leading to growing concern among stakeholders in the region, including Washington.
In her New Year’s address, Tsai also said that Taiwan is willing to provide China with “necessary assistance” to help it deal with a surge in COVID-19 cases, so that more Chinese people can enjoy a healthy and safe year.
In an abrupt change of policy, China last month began dismantling the world’s strictest COVID-19 regime of lockdowns and extensive testing, meaning the disease is spreading largely unchecked and likely infecting millions of people per day, some international health experts say.
“As long as there is a need, based on the position of humanitarian care, we are willing to provide the necessary assistance to help more people emerge from the pandemic and have a healthy and safe new year,” Tsai said, without elaborating.
Tsai did not say if China had made such a request.
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