- Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen says her country will not rely on other countries to defend it.
- She did welcome the U.S. commitment to the island’s security during what she called China’s “encroachment” on its sovereignty.
- The median line in the Taiwan Strait has been routinely crossed by Chinese military planes.
President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday that Taiwan will not rely on other countries to defend it. She did, however, welcome the U.S. commitment to the democratically run island’s security during what she called China’s “encroachment” on its sovereignty.
Tsai’s comments, which were pre-recorded and given at a forum in Washington, D.C., to an American audience, come after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden promised in September to defend Taiwan if China launched a “unprecedented attack.”
In her speech to the Global Taiwan Institute think tank in Washington, Tsai thanked the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress for keeping the U.S. commitment to Taiwan’s security and for recent U.S. military arms sales.
“But we won’t count on other people to help us,” Tsai said.
“So, I want to say again that Taiwan is fully committed to protecting our security and keeping our democratic way of life. We are also working to make sure that our defence strategy changes as the threats we face change.”
Even though the White House said Biden’s promise didn’t change U.S. policy, critics say he may have gone against the U.S. policy of not taking a stand on Taiwan’s independence, whether he meant to or not.
China held large-scale military drills to show how angry it was that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went to Taiwan in August. China sees Taiwan as its own land.
Since then, the Chinese military has still been active, but not as much as before. The median line in the Taiwan Strait, which had been used as an unofficial barrier for years, has been routinely crossed by Chinese military planes.
Taiwan said on Wednesday that eight Chinese fighter planes crossed the middle line.
Tsai said that these operations “intrude on Taiwan’s sovereignty and threaten peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”
“History and current events have taught us that threats to one country or region lead directly or indirectly to more threats to its neighbors.”
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