Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. | Photograph credit score: Reuters
Taiwan should shield its sovereignty and know its personal tradition and historical past, President Lai Ching-te mentioned on Sunday, rejecting what he mentioned was the earlier mistaken perception that the island might function a base for “retaking” China.
Mr Lai, who took workplace in Might, and his ruling Democratic Progressive Occasion (DPP) advocate Taiwan’s separate id from China, a place that regularly infuriates Beijing, which regards the island as an inviolable a part of Chinese language territory.
Talking on the DPP’s annual conference, Mr Lai mentioned those that fought to convey democracy to Taiwan (martial legislation solely resulted in 1987) had a transparent understanding of the island’s place on the planet.
“They didn’t hesitate to shed blood and used their lives to discredit the misunderstanding that ‘Taiwan is a base for reclaiming the mainland’, and instituted the nationwide coverage of placing Taiwan first,” mentioned Mr Lai, who can be chairman of the DPP.
Chiang Kai-shek and his defeated Republic of China authorities fled to Taiwan in 1949 after dropping a civil warfare to Mao Zedong’s communists.
Chiang hoped to regroup his forces in Taiwan and assault China to destroy Mao’s Individuals’s Republic of China. Chiang died in 1975 with out having achieved that dream.
Lai mentioned Taiwan had completely different priorities.
“It’s now our duty to unite the individuals, oppose annexation (by China) and guarantee nationwide sovereignty,” he mentioned, talking in Taiwanese, also called Hokkien, quite than the principle authorities language, Mandarin.
“We should do our greatest to make all individuals within the nation perceive Taiwan’s historical past and tradition and set up a nationwide id wherein the 23 million individuals dwelling in Taiwan are a neighborhood with a shared future,” he added.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Workplace didn’t reply to calls in search of remark exterior workplace hours on Sunday. China calls Lai a “separatist.”
Mr Lai rejects China’s sovereignty claims and says solely the individuals of Taiwan can determine its future. He has repeatedly supplied talks with Beijing however has been rebuffed.
China held army workout routines shortly after Lai took workplace and has continued to ship plane and warships to Taiwan every day.
Taiwan kicks off its annual Han Kuang warfare video games on Monday, which this yr intention to be as near actual fight as doable.
Mr Lai mentioned the DPP will all the time adhere to a democratic and free constitutional system.
“We are going to by no means permit Taiwan to undergo the specter of extinction because of the failure of democratic politics,” he added.