Peace in the Taiwan Strait benefits the whole world and the international community believes that without it, there can be neither prosperity nor security, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday.
China has ramped up its pressure against Lai, whom it views as a “separatist,” and staged two days of war games around Taiwan after he took office last month.
Speaking to new recruits at an army base in Taichung, Lai said that every drop of their sweat was to protect Taiwan’s national security.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“The international community believes these days that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is a necessary component for global security and prosperity,” he said. “No matter whether it’s the United States, Japan, South Korea or the European Union, and the heads of state or prime ministers of many nations, they all agree on this point, opposing any country using force to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.”
“Our efforts are all for the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, for Taiwan’s security, and our democratic, free system and continued economic development,” he said. “Peace in the Taiwan Strait benefits global peace.”
Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang military drills are scheduled for next month and this year are to be as close as possible to actual combat.
Over the past week, Taiwan has reported detecting 203 Chinese military aircraft operating nearby, getting as close as 31 nautical miles (57km) to Taiwan proper, Ministry of National Defense data showed.
China last week threatened to prosecute those deemed “diehard” supporters of Taiwanese independence and execute people in the most serious cases, prompting Taipei to warn Taiwanese to avoid the country.
Lai has rejected Beijing’s sovereignty claims and has said only Taiwanese can decide their future.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
RSS