Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Saturday that the country wants to have a “meaningful dialogue” with China amid heightened tensions with the country, reported AP. China claims the island country to be its sovereign territory to be annexed by force if necessary.
In her speech at Taiwan’s National Day celebrations, Tsai said that she hopes to reduce tension with China if it listens to the country’s concerns and restarts a dialogue with Taipei.
The statement came after Tsai noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping told the United Nations General Assembly that Beijing would not seek expansion, hegemony or attempt to establish a sphere of influence over the country, according to AP.
“As countries in the region and around the world are now concerned about China’s expanding hegemony, we hope this is the beginning of genuine change,” Tsai said.
China has, however, boosted its air force activity near the country, especially around Taiwan Strait, which acts as a buffer between the two countries, according to Reuters. “For some time now, harassment by air and sea from the other side has raised tensions in the Taiwan Strait,” Tsai said, adding that the country would neither show weakness nor act rashly.
— Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen
”We are committed to upholding cross-strait stability, but this is not something Taiwan can shoulder alone; it is the joint responsibility of both sides. As long as the Beijing authorities are willing to resolve antagonisms and improve cross-strait relations, while parity and dignity are maintained, we are willing to work together to facilitate meaningful dialogue.”
She said the government’s stance was based on cross-party consensus. Although the main opposition in Taiwan, the Nationalist Party, had leanings towards the unification of the country with China, it has started to downplay the agenda to stem electoral losses.
China has not responded to the comments as it had cut contacts with the country after Tsai was elected president in 2016. Since then, it has ramped up economic, diplomatic and military and pressure on the country in order to make Tsai endorse its claims that Taiwan and China constitute a single Chinese nation.
China has also run campaign to isolated Taiwan, leading to the island country getting excluded from international gatherings. The number of its diplomatic allies has reduced to just 15 but it still enjoys strong informal support from Japan, the United States and other major countries.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi had reacted to advertisements in the Indian media about Taiwan’s National Day and asked journalists not to violate the “One-China” policy. “All countries that have diplomatic relations with China should firmly honour their commitment to the One-China policy, which is also the long-standing official position of the Indian government,” the Chinese embassy said a letter issued on October 7. “We hope Indian media can stick to Indian government’s position on Taiwan question and do not violate the One-China principle.”
However, India had responded on Thursday that he media in the country was free to report on anything that it sees fit. Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu had criticised the Chinese embassy’s request to the Indian media.
New Delhi has no formal diplomatic relations with Taipei, but the two countries have close business and cultural ties. In 1995, India and Taiwan had established representative offices in Taipei and New Delhi.
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