Freedom is not a crime, will pursue democracy against authoritarian China: President of Taiwan
Taipei:
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Saturday highlighted the challenge the island is facing to maintain freedom and democracy amid growing diplomatic and military pressure from China.
In his New Year’s Day speech, President Tsai said, “Pursuing democracy and freedom is not a crime and Taiwan’s stance in favor of Hong Kong will not change. and democracy is deeper. again. “
“We will make Taiwan even better and show the world that democratic Taiwan has the courage to step out of the shadow of authoritarian China and we will not bow to pressure,” Tsai said.
China continues to regard Taiwan as a breakaway province even after decades of separate governance. Taipei has resisted Chinese aggression by strengthening strategic ties with democracies including the US, even as Beijing continues to threaten “Taiwan independence” with war.
Amid increasing diplomatic and military pressure from China, the Taiwanese president noted the challenge in maintaining the country’s freedom, democracy and consensus to connect with the world.
Taiwan Focus quoted her as saying: “Continuing global engagement, maintaining economic momentum, strengthening our social safety net, and safeguarding our nation’s sovereignty are the four pillars of our plan. we leave governance stable in 2022.”
On Thursday, in a belligerent tone, China said it had sent more than 940 fighter jets to take part in routine drills, more than the Taiwanese authorities had said.
“The PLA has dispatched more fighter jets to routine exercises near Taiwan than DPP authorities have revealed, China’s Ministry of National Defense said in response to recent statements by the DPP that the The mainland has made 940 sorties near the island of Taiwan this year,” state media outlet Global Times reported.
To date, Taiwan has seen 950 incursions of People’s Liberation Army Air Defense Forces (PLAAF) military aircraft into the country’s Air Defense Identification Zone in 2021, an increase of 60%. Compared with the last year.
Furthermore, Taiwanese media reports that the island is expected to see an increase in the number of incursions as China has increased its sorties over the past few years.
The number of flights is expected to increase further as tensions rise over major political events on both sides of the Taiwan Strait in 2022, Taiwan News reported.
