3 yıl önce

Taiwan urges China to avoid 'military adventurism'

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has said that military conflict is not the answer as the Chinese President Xi Jinping talked about the complete unification of "the motherland" - an aspiration that Taiwan rejects.

Reuters

China claims the democratic island of Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to seize it one day by force if necessary.

Taiwan has urged China to curb its "military adventurism", with tensions between the two sides at their highest level in years.

"We must remind the Beijing authorities to not misjudge the situation and to prevent the internal expansion of 'military adventurism'," President Tsai Ing-wen said on Saturday in her New Year's speech broadcast live on Facebook.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has increased military and diplomatic pressure in the past two years to assert its sovereignty claims.

In Chinese President Xi Jinping's New Year address the day before, he said the complete unification of "the motherland" was an aspiration shared by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan says it is an independent country and has repeatedly vowed to defend its freedom and democracy.

"The military is definitely not an option for solving cross-strait disagreements. Military conflicts would impact economic stability," Tsai said. "Our two sides jointly shoulder the responsibility of maintaining regional peace and stability."