Taiwan National Day: President Lai Ching-te vows to resist annexation

China describes Taiwan as a breakaway province and Lai as the head of an administration that engages in “separatist activities” and seeks “independence”

Taipei: The People’s Republic of China has “no right to represent” Taiwan, which will resist “annexation or encroachment” of its sovereignty, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said in a public address commemorating the island’s National Day on Thursday.

Lai Ching-te, Taiwan's president, during the National Day celebration in Taipei. (Bloomberg)

Taiwan will stand side by side with democratic countries and “jointly demonstrate the strength of deterrence”, he told a gathering of thousands during a speech delivered in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. Without directly referencing China, Lai said “expanding authoritarianism” has resulted in challenges to the rules-based global order.

At the same time, Lai offered to work with China to address issues such as climate change, and infectious diseases, and maintain regional security to “pursue peace and mutual prosperity” for people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwanese security analysts are closely tracking China’s response to Lai’s speech, with experts at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a state-funded think tank, hinting at the possibility of Beijing launching the “Joint Sword B” exercise in the waters and airspace around Taiwan.

In an apparent reference to divisions within Taiwan on maintaining an independent course or having closer ties with the mainland, Lai said the people “fully understand that we have differences in opinion” but have always been willing to keep moving forward hand-in-hand. “As president, my mission is to...unite the 23 million people of Taiwan. I will also uphold the commitment to resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty,” he said.

While Taiwan is resolved to uphold peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, it is willing to work with China on “addressing climate change, combating infectious diseases, and maintaining regional security to pursue peace and mutual prosperity for the well-being of the people on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait”, Lai said.

Lai noted that countries across the world had supported, invested in, and helped China to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in the hope that Beijing would “join the rest of the world in making global contributions” and “that externally it would maintain peace”.

“As we stand here today, international tensions are on the rise, and each day countless innocents are suffering injuries or losing their lives in conflict. We hope that China will live up to the expectations of the international community, that it will apply its influence and work with other countries toward ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East,” he said.

The speech was part of a ceremony that included marching contingents from the three services, a flypast by jets, performances by ethnic minorities, and the island’s athletes who participated in the Olympics and Paralympics.

China describes Taiwan as a breakaway province and Lai as the head of an administration that engages in “separatist activities” and seeks “independence”.

(The reporter is visiting Taipei at the invitation of the Taiwan government.)