President Lai Ching-te pledged to safeguard Taiwan’s autonomous status in his most high-profile public speech since taking office earlier this year.
Lai made no secret of China’s claim to the island and said he would “abide by his commitment to resist annexation or infringement of our sovereignty.”
Jimmy Lai spoke to a crowd in Taipei to mark Taiwan’s National Day, just nine days before communist China celebrated its 75th anniversary.
At the same time, Jimmy Lai promised to maintain “the status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and promised to cooperate with Beijing on issues such as climate change, combating infectious diseases, and maintaining regional security.
“The Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not affiliated with each other,” he said, referring to the governments in Taipei and Beijing respectively.
“This is a land where democracy and freedom thrive. The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he added.
Lai had previously told visitors that his National Day speech would not be “a surprise” in an effort to reassure them that he would not do anything to further anger Beijing.
The disclaimer follows several speeches by President Jimmy Lai over the past few months that some considered provocative.
“This speech was much softer and less pointed than his recent speeches,” Lev Nachman, a political scientist at National Taiwan University, told the BBC of Thursday’s speech. “It was a lot softer and less pointed than his recent speeches.” Giving China far less ammunition to use against him.”
“Nevertheless,” he added, “Beijing will still find many reasons to hate this speech.”
Nachman said he expected a strong response from Beijing in the form of more military exercises in the coming days.
Lai said last week that it was “absolutely impossible” for China to become Taiwan’s “motherland” because the Taiwanese government was founded in 1911, decades before the establishment of the Communist regime in mainland China in 1949.
“On the contrary, the Republic of China may actually be the motherland for citizens of the People’s Republic of China over the age of 75,” Lai said at a concert marking Taiwan’s National Day on Saturday.
Taiwan upholds the Constitution of the Republic of China established in mainland China. In 1949, after losing a long civil war with the Communists, the Republic of China government fled to Taiwan, where it has remained ever since.
Last month, Lai also questioned China’s assertion that its claim to the self-ruled island is based on territorial integrity. If that were the case, he said, Beijing would also push to reclaim other so-called historical lands that once belonged to the Chinese empire.
“If China wants to annex Taiwan… it’s not for territorial integrity,” Lai said in an interview on his 100th day in office.
“If it is really for territorial integrity, why doesn’t China take back Russia?”
Lai referred to the 1858 Treaty of Aihun, under which China ceded large tracts of territory in Manchuria to Russia. The concession came during China’s so-called “Century of Humiliation,” when Western powers and Japan were taking advantage of the weakened Qing dynasty.
Tensions escalated on Wednesday when the Chinese government responded by saying Chairman Lai had “sinister intentions.”
A statement from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said: “Lai Qingde’s Taiwan independence fallacy is old wine in new bottles, once again exposing his stubborn stance on the Taiwan independence issue and his sinister intentions to escalate hostility and confrontation.”
After being elected in January, Lai succeeded former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, also from the Democratic Progressive Party.
Many political observers believe Lai’s public statements so far go further than those of his predecessor, who was much more cautious in his public speeches.
However, despite his government’s more confrontational tone, Lai stressed his stance on maintaining the “status quo” between Taiwan and China.
He insisted that there was no need for Taiwan to declare independence because it was already an independent sovereign country and had never been controlled by the People’s Republic of China.
Lai also spent a lot of space in Thursday’s speech discussing domestic issues such as energy, climate change and housing.
