Taiwan urges Beijing to work for cross-strait peace, vows island will defend itself

Name: Taiwan showcases fighter jets as mainland China’s war games continue following Pelosi visit
Uploaded: 2022-10-10T07:02:09.000Z
Duration: 3 min 13 s
Description: Taiwan showcases fighter jets as mainland China’s war games continue following Pelosi visit

In Double Tenth Day speech, Taiwanese president also pledges to increase mass production of precision missiles and boost asymmetric warfare strength

Foreign ministry in Beijing accuses Tsai Ing-wen’s DPP government of stoking tensions in the Taiwan Strait

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Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at a ceremony to mark the island’s Double Tenth Day in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei on October 10, 2022. Photo: AFP

Lawrence Chungin Taipei

Published: 3:02pm, 10 Oct 2022Updated: 9:17pm, 10 Oct 2022

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has called on Beijing to work with Taipei to find a “mutually agreeable arrangement” to uphold cross-strait peace and stability, saying military confrontation is not an option for the two sides.

However, in the same speech she pledged to increase the mass production of precision missiles and further develop the island’s asymmetric warfare strength to deal with growing military threats from Beijing and a potential cross-strait conflict.

“I want to make clear to the Beijing authorities that armed confrontation is absolutely not an option for our two sides,” she said in a major address on Monday, Taiwan’s Double Tenth Day, or the 111th anniversary of the Republic of China, the island’s official name.

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Taiwan showcases fighter jets as mainland China’s war games continue following Pelosi visit

Noting that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was the basis for the development of cross-strait ties, Tsai said it was regrettable that Beijing had in recent years intensified its military threats, diplomatic pressure and trade obstructions in a bid to force the island to accept the mainland’s sovereignty.

Beijing has long viewed Taiwan as its own and has vowed to take it under control, by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the island by force.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning repeated the mainland’s position that the island was not an independent country.

“The cause of the current tensions in the Taiwan Strait lies in the Democratic Progressive Party authorities’ stubborn insistence on Taiwan independence and secession,” Mao said, referring to the island’s governing party.

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