Taiwan’s resolve to defend itself using force has not changed, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman-elect Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said in an exclusive interview with German media firm Deutsche Welle published yesterday, although she opposed a proposal to increase Taiwan’s defense spending to 5 percent of GDP.
The KMT national congress commenced yesterday, with Cheng to officially become the party’s chairwoman today.
Cheng also spoke with the interviewer, Tsou Tsung-han (鄒宗翰), about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Peace across the Taiwan Strait is the most important issue for Taiwan, Cheng said, adding that she would focus on resolving disagreements and conflicts, and offer an olive branch if she were to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Cross-strait differences could be reconciled via peaceful means, and remarks or actions that might provoke military conflict should be avoided, she said.
Asked about her take on the likelihood of unification, Cheng said that most Taiwanese prefer to maintain the “status quo.”
The proportions of those favoring unification and independence has not changed much, she said.
Talk about cross-strait issues would be castles in the air if the relationship cannot be normalized and stabilized, she added.
Asked about a potential Chinese attempt to take Taiwan by force, Cheng said: “We have not abandoned our resolve to defend Taiwan by force either.”
Asked whether her claim contradicts her stance against boosting the nation’s defense budget, she said: “Not at all.”
Neither Germany nor NATO would be willing to increase their defense budgets to 5 percent of GDP, but President William Lai (賴清德) agreed under pressure from the US, Cheng said, adding that there are many methods to maintain peace other than military approaches.
Taiwan would never become a second Hong Kong, although it might end up as a second Ukraine, she said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a dictator, as he was elected by Russia’s people, she said.
Asked whether Russia’s war in Ukraine was Putin’s fault, Cheng said that is definitely not true.
The problem would not have arisen if NATO had refrained from “expanding into the east” and had rejected Ukraine’s application to become a member state, she said.
Taiwan’s power over its own fate should not be handed over to Beijing or Washington, Cheng said, adding that this is an issue over which she disagrees with Lai.
Separately, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) said that Cheng’s remarks not only deviate from the consensus among most countries, but could undermine Taiwan’s credibility and reputation in the democratic alliance.
Putin has long been manipulating elections, persecuting political enemies, and controlling the media and the judicial system in Russia, Chen said.
Democracy-coated authoritarianism has for a long time been considered dictatorship in the international community, he said.
Chen also disapproved of Cheng’s statements about defending Taiwan and increasing defense budgets.
“Such a self-contradictory attitude would only weaken the world’s trust in Taiwan’s strategic integrity,” he said.
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