The United States urged China to practice restraint after President Lai Ching-te‘s speech in honour of the Republic of China’s (Taiwan) Independence Day, according to Focus Taiwan.
This was a long tradition for Taiwan’s president to make public statements on the Double Ten Day, which had historically elicited little reaction from Beijing, a US State Department spokesman said.
We are not going to speculate on what the People’s Republic of China will or will not do this year, but we see no justification for a routine annual celebration to be used as a pretext for military exercises. We urge Beijing to act with restraint.
Prior to the speech, reports surfaced that China was planning military exercises targeting Taiwan to be held in the coming days after the National Day celebrations.
President Lai stated on Thursday that the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were not subordinate to each other. He also said Taiwan was ready to co-operate with China in addressing climate change, preventing infectious diseases and maintaining regional security
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning criticised Lai for using various means to “sell the fallacy of Taiwan independence.” She also accused the Taiwanese leader of revealing “his pernicious intention to escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait for political gain.”
Lai’s speech deliberately seeks to sever the historical connection between the two sides of the strait and reiterated the rhetoric of mutual non-subordination and insisting on sovereignty. No matter what Lai’s administration says or does, they cannot change the objective fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China.
Taiwan’s defence ministry had not detected any signs of military action in response to Lai’s speech as of midday Friday.
