Taipei:
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen warned of “catastrophic consequences” if the island have been to fall to China and vowed to “do whatever it takes” to guard against threats in an write-up published on Tuesday.
Taiwan lives below the continuous threat of invasion by China, which views the self-ruled democratic island as its territory to be re-taken one day, by force if required.
President Xi Jinping has described the seizure of Taiwan as “inevitable” and Beijing has ramped up military, diplomatic and financial stress because Tsai’s 2016 election, as she views the island as “already independent” and not component of a “one China”.
Nearly 150 Chinese warplanes had breached Taiwan’s ADIZ because Friday when Beijing marked its National Day with its then-largest aerial show of force, buzzing the island with 38 planes.
Tsai warned a failure to defend Taiwan would be “catastrophic” for each the island and the wider area in an write-up she wrote for Foreign Affairs published on Tuesday.
“They should remember that if Taiwan were to fall, the consequences would be catastrophic for regional peace and the democratic alliance system,” Tsai stated.
“It would signal that in today’s global contest of values, authoritarianism has the upper hand over democracy.”
Taiwan hopes for peaceful coexistence with China, she stated, but “if its democracy and way of life are threatened, Taiwan will do whatever it takes to defend itself.”
Tsai’s government on Monday urged Beijing to quit “irresponsible provocative actions” soon after a record 56 Chinese jets like nuclear-capable bombers crossed into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone.
“Amid almost daily intrusions by the People’s Liberation Army, our position on cross-strait relations remains constant: Taiwan will not bend to pressure,” Tsai added.
The ADIZ is not the very same as Taiwan’s territorial airspace but consists of a far higher location that overlaps with component of China’s personal air defence identification zone and even consists of some of the mainland.
In the last two years, Beijing has begun sending substantial sorties into Taiwan’s defence zone to signal dissatisfaction at essential moments — and to maintain Taipei’s ageing fighter fleet frequently stressed.
Last year, a record 380 Chinese military jets made incursions into Taiwan’s defence zone. The quantity as of October this year has currently exceeded 600.
(This story has not been edited by TheSpuzz employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)