On Saturday, the Taiwanese leader called on her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to reduce military tensions and fulfill his promise to “never seek hegemony” after months of Beijing intensifying fighter jet raids.
In a speech on Taiwan’s national day, President Tsai Ing-wen said the international community was concerned about China’s “expanding hegemony.”
Beijing views democratic and autonomous Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to get it back.
But Tsai referred to a recent speech by Xi to the United Nations that he said gave Taiwanese some hope.
“I am also aware that the leader from across the Strait (Xi) has publicly stated in a video message to the United Nations General Assembly that China will never seek hegemony, expansion or a sphere of influence … we hope that this be the beginning of genuine change. ”
“We are committed to maintaining stability across the Straits, but this is not something that Taiwan can take on alone, it is the joint responsibility of both parties,” he added.
Beijing’s bellicose stance toward Taiwan has increased dramatically under Xi, who has described the island’s unification with the mainland as “inevitable.”
It is also a response to Tsai’s election in 2016 and again earlier this year. Tsai, of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), sees Taiwan as a sovereign country and rejects the idea that the island is part of “one China.”
The Beijing Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) accused Tsai of “extending confrontational thinking and antagonism to promote independence” in his speech, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
“We urge the DPP authority to stop any provocative words and actions that promote independence and not go the wrong way,” Xinhua quoted TAO spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian as saying.
The DPP “would only swallow its own evil fruits to collude with Western countries,” Zhu warned.
Washington’s broader reach to Taipei under President Donald Trump has become another flash point with Beijing as US-China relations tumble to record lows.
China’s military has pushed even more than usual this year, sending its fighter jets into Taiwan’s air defense zone with unprecedented frequency, and sometimes also crossing the so-called “middle line” of the Taiwan Strait.
He conducted exercises near the Taiwan Strait when a high-ranking American diplomat visited the island last month, shortly after Health Chief Alex Azar made the highest-level U.S. visit to Taipei since 1979, when Washington changed the diplomatic recognition to Beijing.
An official from the Chinese Foreign Ministry has even said that there is no middle line as “Taiwan is an inseparable part of the Chinese territory”, prompting Taipei condemnations.
On Saturday, Chinese planes entered Taiwan’s air defense zone for the eighth time this month and the fifth day in a row this week, according to the Taipei Defense Ministry.
Tsai promised that Taiwan “will not act rashly” and will work to reduce the risk of military conflict.
“As long as the Beijing authorities are willing to resolve antagonisms and improve cross-strait relations … we are willing to work together to facilitate meaningful dialogue,” he said.
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