China Taiwan conflict: Taiwan’s President William Lai Ching-te stated that China sees the “annexation” and “elimination” of Taiwan as its major national goals. He advised cadets at the military’s top academy to recognize their opponents and resist defeatism.
China, which considers Taiwan to be its territory, has been attacking Lai personally on an ongoing basis. Beijing has labelled him a “separatist” since taking office last month. Soon after Lai’s inauguration, China also conducted a significant military exercise surrounding Taiwan and stationed planes in Taiwan’s airspace.
Lai stated in a speech on Sunday that only the people of Taiwan could determine their future. She has frequently offered to hold discussions with Beijing but has received no response.
As per Al Jazeera, on the 100th anniversary of the Whampoa Military Academy’s inception, Lai made a speech in Kaohsiung, in the southern part of the island, and stated that cadets of today need to understand the problems of the “new era.”
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Using Taiwan’s official name, he stated, “The biggest challenge is to face the powerful rise of China, [which is] destroying the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and regards Taiwan’s annexation and the elimination of the Republic of China as the great rejuvenating cause of its people,”
He continued, “The highest mission is to bravely take up the heavy responsibility and grand task of protecting Taiwan, and safeguarding peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,”
When contacted on Sunday for comments on Lai’s remarks, the Taiwan Affairs Office of China did not return calls.
‘We cannot accept defeatism’
At a symposium on relations with Taiwan on Saturday, Wang Huning, the fourth-ranking official of China’s ruling Communist Party, stated that “reunification is a historical necessity for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” and vowed to “smash any separatist plots.”
At a gathering where senior military officials and Neil Gibson, the top US diplomat in Kaohsiung, were present, Lai proclaimed that the cadets must defend Taiwan from Chinese annexation and that the island’s future is solely up to its citizens.
Referring to the idea that Taiwan may fall apart the moment China begins an invasion, Lai stated, “We really must be able to distinguish between ourselves and our enemies and between friend and foe, and we absolutely cannot accept the defeatism of ‘the first battle is the last battle’.”
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The academy was established in 1924, more than ten years after the last emperor was overthrown and the Republic of China was established in Guangzhou, then known as Canton in English.
Founded in 1949 with assistance from the Soviet Union to provide China with a professional military devoted to the emerging state, it first moved to Nanjing, Chengdu, and then Kaohsiung when the defeated Republican government retreated to the island after Mao Zedong and his communist troops prevailed in the civil war.
China claims that Taiwan would be attacked if it attempted to formally declare its independence.
According to the Taipei government, Taiwan is already the Republic of China, and there are no plans to change that.
