China should not underestimate Taiwan’s determination to defend itself, and military threats will only make the people of Taiwan even more resolute, the island’s defense ministry said in a new video responding to repeated Chinese threats.
China has escalated military activity around the island, where the losing nationalists formed their government at the end of the civil war in 1949, sending fighter jets and warships over exercises near Taiwan. Communist government China claims the island as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to exercise its control.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement late Thursday to accompany a video showing Taiwanese troops drilling, saying it was “an expression of its strict stance on recent Chinese military crackdowns of the Communist Liberation Army.
Taiwan will not provoke, but it will also not show any weakness, it added.
“Absolutely not addressing our resolution to defend Taiwan,” the ministry said.
“The most arrogant country can easily provoke a war, and the most ignorant government can be caught in the flames of war.”
China’s provocations and threats will only further unite the people of Taiwan and “recognize the essence of Chinese communist militarism,” the Defense Ministry said.
“Ultimately, it will have the opposite effect, touching on the anger and antipathy of the people of Taiwan, seriously hurting the peace and stability across the Strait of Taiwan.”
Do not underestimate our determination to #protectourcountry. De #ROCArmedforces will not antagonize, but we will respond to hostile actions. pic.twitter.com/A8C0djaKLT
– 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, ROC (@MoNDefense) August 20, 2020
The slickly produced video, also released on the ministry’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, shows Taiwan’s F-16s howling in the air, rockets being fired from land and at sea, and soldiers on maneuvers.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen oversees a military modernization program, although Taiwanese troops are dwarfed by China, which now has advanced equipment, including stealth fighters and aircraft carriers.
The United States, Taiwan’s main arms supplier, has suspended support for the island. Last year, the U.S. Department of State approved $ 10 billion worth of arms sales to Taiwan.
SOURCE:
Reuters news agency
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