Tsai Ing-wen says Beijing must face reality that Taiwan is ‘an independent country already’
- After election win, president says in interview that island is successful democracy with decent economy and deserves respect
- She also warns against any military response, saying invading would be ‘very costly for China’
In an interview with the BBC, Tsai also said the democratic island deserved respect from Beijing.
“We don’t have a need to declare ourselves an independent state,” Tsai told the BBC. “We are an independent country already and we call ourselves the Republic of China, Taiwan.”
Official ties have been suspended since Tsai took office in 2016 and refused to accept the one-China principle – a political understanding that there is only one China with ambiguity over whether it is governed by Taipei or Beijing.
Mainland China sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be returned to its control, by force if necessary. With Tsai as president, Beijing has ramped up pressure on the island, including by poaching its diplomatic allies and staging military drills nearby.