Taiwan’s relations with China must be decided by the will of the people and peace must be based on “dignity,” President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said, while calling for a return to “healthy” cross-strait exchanges in her final New Year’s Day address yesterday.
In his New Year’s Eve address on Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said that “reunification” with Taiwan is inevitable.
Xi’s comments struck a stronger tone than the previous year when he said only that people on either side of the Taiwan Strait are “members of one and the same family.”
Photo: Presidential Office via AP
Asked about Xi’s speech at a New Year’s news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday following her address, Tsai said that the most important principle on what course to follow regarding relations with China was democracy.
“This is taking the joint will of Taiwan’s people to make a decision. After all, we are a democratic country,” she said.
China should respect the outcome of Taiwan’s elections this month, and it is the responsibility of both sides to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, she added.
“Everyone’s home has locks, which is not to provoke the neighbors, but to make yourself safer. This is the same for the doors to the nation. Taiwanese want peace, but we want peace with dignity,” she said.
Tsai also urged China not to use a commercial mechanism as a political means to threaten Taiwan, citing Beijing’s suspension of preferential tariffs on 12 petrochemical products under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement.
The Chinese Customs Tariff Commission on Dec. 21 announced that it was suspending preferential tariffs on 12 petrochemical products, including propylene and paraxylene, citing trade barriers imposed by Taiwan on similar products.
Taipei described the move as a “politically motivated” attempt to pressure the nation ahead of the presidential and legislative elections on Saturday next week.
Asked whether ending the preferential tariffs was an attempt to interfere in the elections, Tsai said that local companies have gradually moved away from the old path of “first go to China, then go to the world.”
Economic and trade exchanges should not be used as political tools and trade disputes should be negotiated through WTO mechanisms, she said, adding that the government would help companies prepare for the challenges Beijing poses.
Taiwanese businesses should continue to expand their global presence to reduce unpredictable risks posed by China’s unstable market, she said.
Tsai, who is to leave office upon the completion of her second four-year term in May, in her final New Year’s Day address said that “Taiwan” has become a key word in the world in the past eight years.
“Taiwan is no longer forgotten — Taiwanese have witnessed the changes in the world and participated in changing the world during the time I have been in office,” Tsai said.
Amid clashes between democracies and authoritarian states that not only affect geopolitical stability, but have also restructured the global supply chain, Taiwan continues to uphold democracy and safeguard peace, she said.
Taiwan does not provoke or succumb to pressure, but wins the trust of the international community with its credibility to bolster its ties with democratic partners, she said.
The world has recognized that “Taiwan can help” whenever there are nations in need, she added.
Tsai called on China to “take joint responsibility” with Taiwan to restore “healthy and orderly exchanges” as soon as possible, as well as to find a long-term and stable way of peaceful coexistence between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait that is based on peace, equality, democracy and dialogue.
The nation has been honoring its promise to maintain the “status quo” as well as demonstrating its determination by continuing to strengthen national defense, which is crucial to solicit international support to help defend the nation, she said.
Safeguarding peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region is a consensus in international society and the shared mission of all political parties, she said.
Building the nation into “Taiwan of the world” would be her legacy after eight years in office, Tsai said.
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