Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen urged Beijing to resume talks with Taipei to help maintain stability in the region in the face of renewed threats by Beijing to use force against Taiwan.
“War is never an option for solving a problem,” Tsai said in her New Year’s speech on Sunday. “Only by boosting stable development in the region together through dialogue and collaboration can we bring security and happiness to more people.”
“It is the common responsibilities of the two sides across the Taiwan Strait to maintain stability in the region,” she said.
Tsai said Taiwan is willing to help China deal with increasing COVID-19 cases in the country, and she hopes that people on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can resume exchanges in an orderly manner this year.
China cut off senior-level talks with Taiwan after Tsai came into power in 2016. Beijing views Tsai as a pro-independence figure who opposes its claim over Taiwan.
Beijing has been aggressively ramping up pressure on Taiwan on the military front over the past few months since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in August, leading to growing concern among stakeholders in the region, including Washington. Chinese officials also continue to threaten to invade Taiwan to prevent the democratic, self-ruling island’s formal independence.
On Dec. 21, a Chinese fighter plane flew within 20 feet (6 meters) of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea in what the US Indo-Pacific Command called “an unsafe maneuver.”
On Friday, China Ministry of Defense spokesman Tan Kefei again threatened invasion of Taiwan, just days after Beijing put on its biggest display of military might since it held unprecedented exercises around Taiwan following Pelosi’s trip, with some 71 Chinese warplanes flying near the island. On Sunday, Tsai said Chinese military maneuvers do not help with stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Tsai announced on Tuesday that her government is extending compulsory military service for men to one year from the current four months starting in 2024, a signal to Beijing and Washington that it is serious about defending itself.
To help boost Taiwan’s defense, earlier this month U.S. lawmakers passed a $1.7 trillion spending bill that included $2 billion in weapons funding for Taiwan.
