Taiwan President Stands Up To China, Says Island Won’t ‘Bow To Pressure’

The Taiwanese president stood firm against Chinese President Xi Jinping in a speech Sunday and said the island, which is separated from China by the Taiwan Strait, would not “bow to pressure” from the mainland. The speech comes amidst heightened pressure from China’s communist leadership in Beijing and only a day after Xi pushed for “reunification” of Taiwan with China. 

“Our position on cross-strait relations remains the same: neither our goodwill nor our commitments will change. We call for maintaining the status quo, and we will do our utmost to prevent the status quo from being unilaterally altered,” said President Tsai Ing-we in a speech honoring the country’s founding on Sunday afternoon. 

“We hope for an easing of cross-strait relations and will not act rashly, but there should be absolutely no illusions that the Taiwanese people will bow to pressure,” she said. “We will continue to bolster our national defense and demonstrate our determination to defend ourselves in order to ensure that nobody can force Taiwan to take the path China has laid out for us. This is because the path that China has laid out offers neither a free and democratic way of life for Taiwan, nor sovereignty for our 23 million people.”

Taiwan, a democratically governed nation, has been independent of mainland rule for over seven decades. But in recent weeks, the nation has faced threats to its independence from China, threats that include the communist government sending nearly 150 fighter jets over Taiwanese airspace over the course of several days.