President Tsai Ing-wen stated Sunday that Taiwan would not bow to coercion and that no one can compel it to embrace China’s route for self-government democracy. The island marked its National Day amid heightened tensions with Beijing.
Tsai cautioned that Taiwan is facing the “most complex situation” in the last 72 years, since the conclusion of the Chinese civil war, during her speech in front of the presidential office in Taipei.
Her remarks come only days after China sent a record number of airplanes into its defensive zone, escalating military tensions significantly. On Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to use peaceful methods to achieve what Beijing calls “reunification” with Taiwan.
Beijing, on the other hand, regards Taiwan as an integral part of its territory, despite the fact that the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled the democratic island.
