Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te urged China on Friday to "unclench its fists" and not take any unilateral actions, saying ahead of expected Chinese war games around the island that Beijing would not win any respect for military drills.
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te urged China on Friday to "unclench its fists" and not take any unilateral actions, saying ahead of expected Chinese war games around the island that Beijing would not win any respect for military drills.
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, is expected to launch another round of exercises in response to Lai's trip to the Pacific, which has included stopovers in Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam, according to security sources.
Speaking to reporters in the Pacific Islands nation of Palau on the final day of his tour, Lai said he hoped China, which has condemned his visits to the United States, would return to the rules-based international order.
"It's better to open your hands than to clench your fists. Only by doing so can China win respect from the international community," Lai said in comments carried live on Taiwanese television.
"No matter how many military drills China stages and how many ships and aircraft they dispatch to intimidate regional countries, China will not win the respect from any country," he added, urging Beijing to stop "unsettling and regrettable" unilateral actions.
Asked about possible Chinese drills, Lai said Taiwan's engagement with the world "should not be used by authoritarian countries as an excuse for provocation".
Taiwan's government has a full grasp of the security situation in the region and has made the "best preparations" to ensure the security of the Taiwan Strait separating the island from China, he said.
Beijing detests Lai, branding him a "separatist", and has rejected multiple offers of talks by him.
Lai rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan's people can decide their future and that Taiwan has a right to engage with the rest of the world.
Lai reiterated that while Taiwan wants engagement with China, he cannot have any illusions about peace and that Taiwan must continue to strengthen its defences.
Peace is priceless and there are no winners in a war, he added, repeating comments he made in Hawaii after visiting a memorial to the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
China has staged two rounds of war games around Taiwan so far this year, one in May shortly after Lai's inauguration and another in October following his national day speech.
In Guam on Thursday, Lai spoke with U.S. congressional leaders, including House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, ahead of Donald Trump returning to the White House on Jan. 20.
Trump unnerved Taiwan during the U.S. presidential campaign, saying the island "should pay us for defence" and that Taiwan had taken virtually all of the U.S. semiconductor industry's business.
Lai said Taiwan enjoys strong bipartisan support in the United States and that he was optimistic that he can deepen ties with the incoming U.S. administration.
"Taiwan is confident that we can continue to deepen cooperation with the new U.S. government and resist the expansion of authoritarianism."
China has issued a formal protest against the United States over recent remarks by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing Washington of “vilifying” Beijing and promoting confrontation in the Indo-Pacific.
China has strongly criticised French President Emmanuel Macron's remarks linking Ukraine and Taiwan, calling them a “double standard” and insisting the two issues are not comparable.
Taiwan's Computex tech show brought together thousands of international participants on Tuesday, showcasing the highly advanced Artificial Intelligence and robotic systems.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced Monday that it had detected a significant uptick in Chinese military activity around its territory over the past 24 hours, including 21 aircraft, eight naval vessels, and three additional ships.
Beijing is accelerating efforts to strengthen economic ties with Taiwan, using trade, business incentives and cultural programmes to increase cross-strait interaction amid persistent political and security tensions.
A local dive team has solved a nearly 140-year-old maritime mystery by identifying the wreck of the SS Nantes off the coast of Devon.
India’s central bank made a bigger-than-expected interest rate cut, lowering the repo rate by half a percent to 5.5%, the lowest level in three years.
Twenty-two crew members were safely rescued after a cargo ship carrying 3,000 vehicles, including 800 electric cars, caught fire in the North Pacific near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.
More than 40 suspects have been arrested in a massive international police operation targeting a drug gang accused of smuggling cocaine into Europe using high-speed “narco-boats.”
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump spoke by phone Friday, their first conversation since Lee’s election earlier this week.
As peace talks progress, voices from Yerevan, Tbilisi, and Baku reveal hopes, concerns, and expectations for a future shaped by trade, trust, and generational change in the South Caucasus.
A bridge collapse in the Vygonichsky district of Russia’s Bryansk region, near the Ukrainian border, caused a train derailment and a traffic accident early Sunday, killing at least seven people and leaving 30 injured, according to emergency services.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has confirmed it carried out a third targeted attack against the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, early Tuesday morning, marking a new escalation in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
A strong 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture early Monday, causing no reported injuries or damage, and no tsunami warning was issued, officials confirmed.
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine ended abruptly in Istanbul on Monday, lasting just over an hour amid mounting tensions following a major Ukrainian drone strike on Russian strategic bombers and renewed pressure from the U.S. for a breakthrough.
The first-ever high-level international conference on glacier melt has wrapped up in Dushanbe, bringing together more than 2,500 delegates from 80 countries.
Azerbaijan has unveiled plans to export renewable electricity to Türkiye through the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, with a projected capacity of up to 1 gigawatt.
Two Armenian teenagers who accidentally crossed into Azerbaijani territory have been safely returned, easing tensions after a brief border incident.
Global investors remained wary on Friday after a closely watched phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping failed to deliver concrete progress on trade. Chinese markets reflected the cautious sentiment, with modest declines across key indices.
Uzbekistan secured a place at the FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history, earning a landmark qualification following a 0-0 draw with the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
A local dive team has solved a nearly 140-year-old maritime mystery by identifying the wreck of the SS Nantes off the coast of Devon.
India’s central bank made a bigger-than-expected interest rate cut, lowering the repo rate by half a percent to 5.5%, the lowest level in three years.
Twenty-two crew members were safely rescued after a cargo ship carrying 3,000 vehicles, including 800 electric cars, caught fire in the North Pacific near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.
More than 40 suspects have been arrested in a massive international police operation targeting a drug gang accused of smuggling cocaine into Europe using high-speed “narco-boats.”
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and US President Donald Trump spoke by phone Friday, their first conversation since Lee’s election earlier this week.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment