The president of Taiwan, William Laistated this Wednesday, during a press conference on the occasion of his first month in office, that his country will remain firm in the face of the pressures and hostilities of the regime China.
“In addition to military force, (the Chinese government) has increasingly employed non-traditional methods of coercion to attempt to subdue Taiwan.”Lai stated.
“However, Taiwan will not bow to pressure. The people of Taiwan will resolutely defend their national sovereignty and maintain their democratic and free way of life,” he added.
In recent years, China’s regime has increased military and diplomatic pressure on the government in Taipei, including military maneuvers near the island three days after Lai took power.
Beijing has described these military exercises as “retaliation” to Lai’s inauguration speech, which they called “Taiwan independence declaration”.
China views Taiwan as an extension of its own territory and has not ruled out the possibility of using force to bring it under its control.
Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wellington Kooassured this Monday that the island “has never sought a war” with China, whose authorities behave, in his opinion, like the real “troublemakers” region of.
In statements prior to a parliamentary appearance, Koo stressed that the objective of the new Taiwanese president, William Laiconsists of creating “multiple layers of deterrence” to avoid an armed conflict with China.
“Our intention is to establish multiple layers of deterrence with a logic of asymmetric war, and permanently strengthen our self-defense capabilities,” the minister stated, adding that this strategy will allow “weaken” China’s invasion capacity.
The former secretary general of the National Security Council stressed that the “continued military expansion of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its “constant attempts to change the status quo” in the Taiwan Strait make the Asian giant the real “troublemaker” in the area.
“Taiwan has never sought war. Our strategy is very clear: operate defensively and employ multiple layers of deterrenceKoo noted.
He announced that Taiwan will receive 1,700 TOW 2B anti-tank missiles and another 100 missile launch systems it purchased from the United States before the end of the year.
The delivery of this material, whose value amounts to about 364 million dollars, was scheduled for 2022, but was delayed because the weapons did not pass the tests of the US Army.
The TOW 2B missiles and the launch systems constituted one of three major weapons packages Taiwan had purchased from the United States that had suffered delays in recent years, along with 66 F-16V fighters and a suite of AGM-154 air-to-ground missiles.
President William Lai thanked Washington for its support and reiterated the need to develop “resilience” in Taiwan’s defense strategy.
“The people of Taiwan love peace and are kind to others, but peace must be backed by strength. Achieving peace through preparation is the way to avoid conflict“said the ruler.
(With information from AFP and EFE)
