By Oyintari Ben
Tsai Ing-wen, President of the self-governing island democracy, said on Tuesday that Taiwan won’t back down in the face of “aggressive threats” from Beijing. She compared the increasing pressure coming from Beijing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tsai’s remarks come after the twice-per-decade Communist Party of China’s convention, which saw the party escalate its long-standing threat to take the island it views as its own territory by force if necessary.
The party inserted a clause about “resolutely opposing and deterring” Taiwan’s independence and “resolutely executing the policy of “one country, two systems,” the framework by which it intends to rule the island in the future, into its constitution.
The former British colony of Hong Kong, which has seen its democratic system, civil rights, and judicial independence crushed, has already implemented the blueprint.
Tsai stated during a speech to a global meeting of pro-democracy activists in Taipei that the greatest number of threats to democracies and liberal society had existed since the end of the Cold War.
“A prime example is Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. It demonstrates how an autocratic government will go to any lengths to pursue expansionism “Tsai said.
“Such violence is all too familiar to Taiwanese citizens. Taiwan has faced increasingly aggressive Chinese threats in recent years “She said that these include cyberattacks, economic coercion, and military intimidation.
Due to the growing Chinese threat, Taiwan has been urged to increase defense spending and extend the mandatory national service period for all male citizens.
But despite persistent threats, Tsai added, “the people of Taiwan have never flinched away from the challenges” and have battled to defend their democratic way of life against authoritarian forces.
Tsai was speaking at the World Movement for Democracy’s Steering Committee’s first event, which was presided over by Maria Ressa, the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner.
