by N. Peter Kramer
China has reacted with fury to a speech by the President of Taiwan, a country considered by the communist regime as a renegade province. According to the rulers in Beijing, Taiwan is seeking confrontation. President Tsai Ing-wen would also distort the facts. Tensions between the two countries has risen sharply in recent days, partly because massed Chinese air force incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone.
The Chinese leadership responded angry to Tsai’s announcement to further strengthen the country’s defense, given the latest developments with China. She spoke on the national holiday of Taiwan. The strengthening if the defense should ensure that no one can force Taiwan to accept the path that China has mapped out for the country, Tsai said. That path does not mean a free and democratic way of life for Taiwan. “We hope for an easing of relations between the two states and will not act hastily. But there should be absolutely no illusions that the Taiwanese people will bend under pressure’.
‘Taiwan will ensure regional peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and seeks to work with other like-minded democracies’, she added. Chinese President Xi Jinping had spoken last week about a ‘reunification’ with Taiwan, which he said will come ‘sooner or later’.
