Ties with China have to be determined by will of individuals

Taiwan’s relations with China have to be determined by the need of the individuals and peace have to be based mostly on “dignity,” President Tsai Ing-wen mentioned on Monday after China’s chief, Xi Jinping, mentioned “reunification” with the island is inevitable.

China has been ramping up army stress to say its sovereignty claims over democratically ruled Taiwan, which on Jan. 13 holds presidential and parliamentary elections.

Xi’s comments, in a New 12 months’s Eve deal with, struck a stronger tone than the earlier yr the place he mentioned solely that folks on both aspect of the Taiwan Strait are “members of one and the same family.”

Requested about Xi’s speech at a New 12 months’s press convention on the presidential workplace in Taipei, Tsai mentioned a very powerful precept on what course to observe on 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 mentioned.

China ought to respect the end result of Taiwan’s election and it’s the accountability of each side to take care of peace and stability within the strait, Tsai added.

China has solid the election as a alternative between conflict and peace and has refused a number of presents of talks by Tsai, believing she is a separatist.

Tsai has made bolstering and modernizing Taiwan’s defenses a precedence, together with pushing an indigenous submarine program.

“Everyone’s home has locks on them, which is not to provoke the neighbors next door but to make yourself safer. This is the same for the doors to the country. Taiwan’s people want peace, but we want peace with respect,” she mentioned.

Taiwan’s authorities has repeatedly warned China is attempting to intervene within the election, whether or not through the use of faux information or army or commerce stress, and Tsai mentioned she hoped individuals might be on alert for this.

After China accused Taiwan of erecting commerce boundaries and ended some tariff cuts for the island, China final week threatened additional financial measures.

Tsai mentioned Taiwan’s corporations should look globally and diversify.

“This is the correct path, rather than going back to the path of relying on China, especially as in China’s unstable market there is unpredictable risk,” she mentioned.

China has taken specific exception to present Vice President Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate for Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Social gathering (DPP) and who is main in opinion polls by various margins, saying he’s additionally a harmful separatist.

Each the DPP and Taiwan’s largest opposition occasion the Kuomintang say solely the island’s individuals can determine their future.

Tsai can not stand once more after two phrases in workplace. She is going to step down in Might when the subsequent president is sworn in.