The president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, warned military academy cadets this Sunday that their biggest challenge was “the strong rise of China”, which, according to him, considers the “elimination” of the self-governed island as a cause national.
China and Taiwan have been administered separately since the end of the civil war in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalist forces took refuge on this island after their defeat against Mao Zedong’s communists.
Tensions in the Taiwan Strait have increased since Lai’s inauguration on May 20. Beijing insists that the autonomously governed island is part of its territory and threatens to take it by force if necessary.
At the Kaohsiung military academy, in the south of the island, Lai declared that it was necessary to recognize “the challenges and missions of the new era.”
“The biggest challenge is to confront the strong rise of China, which destroyed the status quo in the Taiwan Strait,” warned the Taiwanese president, who took office in May, on the centenary of the founding of the school.
Beijing seeks to “annex and eliminate the ROC for its cause of great national revival,” Lai added, referring to Taiwan by its official name.
“The most important mission is to courageously shoulder the heavy responsibility and great task of protecting Taiwan and safeguarding peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” he stressed.
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AFP
