China is a hostile nation with the intention of war, while Taiwan has always pursued peace, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
The party made the remarks after Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), who is seeking the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential nomination, yesterday said that the DPP is provoking Beijing.
Gou blaming the government for “provoking” China is illogical, as he also said that China is the country with hostile intentions against Taiwan, DPP spokeswoman Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said.
Photo: Lo Hsin-chen, Taipei Times
China has long acted with aggression against Taiwan, but Gou only put the responsibility on Taiwan, she said, adding that it is wrong for him to “blame the victim.”
“It has always been Beijing intimidating and threatening the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and this is well-recognized by the international community,” she added.
“It is regretful that Gou, in his bid to be nominated as a presidential candidate, would blame Taiwan for everything,” a DPP statement said.
Separately, Vice President and DPP chairman William Lai (賴清德), the party’s presidential candidate for next year’s election, said that if China starts a war, Taiwan would suffer directly and it would lead to a global disaster.
China would not be able to bear the consequences of such action, he said.
“Peace is in the best interest for both sides, and for the benefit of the whole Indo-Pacific region and all countries,” Lai said at an event in Pingtung County yesterday.
“Taiwan is always willing to talk peacefully with China, on terms of mutual respect and with equal recognition,” he said.
“But China has not given up on using military force against Taiwan, so we must fully prepare for a Chinese invasion, to safeguard our homeland,” he added.
Lai said the nation should not accept the “one China” principle.
“It would be going backward, since having peace without sovereignty is not real peace,” he said.
“It is like Hong Kong and Macau. People there had peace for only a brief time, which is not real peace,” he said. “Signing a peace agreement cannot guarantee peace.”
“Tibet is a clear example,” he added.
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