ENSURING DEMOCRACY: Taiwanese would not move toward conflict due to momentary passion, but nor would they sacrifice the sovereignty of the nation, the president said
Taipei Times
Date: Oct 11, 2018
By: Su Yung-yao, Jake Chung and William Heatherington / Staff reporter, with staff writers
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in her Double Ten National Day speech yesterday called
on China to act as a “responsible large nation” should — assuming a benign rather than quarrelsome role in the Asia-Pacific region and the world — as she vowed to maintain cross-strait peace and the democratic lifestyle of 23 million Taiwanese.
“Taiwan, at the forefront of the West Pacific, is under great pressure,” Tsai said.
China has in the past few years resorted to brow beating Taiwanese and restricting Taiwan’s international space, which has damaged cross-strait relations and is seriously challenging peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Tsai said.
The redistribution of labor along the international supply chain, resulting from the US-China trade war, has disrupted international trade and increased the geopolitical complexity of the Indo-Pacific region, as well as cross-strait relations, the president said.
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