Taiwanese President says pursuit of democracy 'not a crime' amid Chinese incursions

As China continues to breach Taiwanese borders, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen on Saturday emphasised the island's struggle to maintain its freedom and democracy in the face of Chinese pressure. President Tsai said that the pursuit of democracy and freedom is not a crime, AP reported. 

Apart from expressing their concern about China's pressure, the Taiwanese President stated that they will treasure their own hard-won freedom and democracy even more and their support for Hong Kong will remain unwavering. She promised that they will make Taiwan even better and demonstrate to the world that democratic Taiwan has the courage to emerge out from under the shadow of authoritarian China and that they will not surrender to coercion. 

Even after decades of Taipei establishing its self-government, China still considers Taiwan a breakaway province. Taipei has responded to Chinese aggression by strengthening strategic connections with democracies such as the United States, even as Beijing continues to threaten Taiwan's independence. Beijing has also criticised the US to make relations with Taiwan.

China's ever-increasing military and diplomatic pressure

In the face of China's ever-increasing military and diplomatic pressure, Taiwan's President emphasised the difficulty of preserving its freedom, democracy and consensus in order to connect with the rest of the world. According to a report Taiwan Focus, President Tsai stated that the four pillars of their plan for a stable government in 2022 are continuing the global involvement, sustaining the economic momentum, developing their social security network, and safeguarding the nation's sovereignty. 

Taiwan has also accused China of dispatching 940 fighter jets to their side. China, on the other hand, announced on Thursday that it sent more than 940 fighter jets for routine training, AP reported. The Chinese Defense Ministry said in response to Taiwan's assertions the PLA dispatched more aeroplanes to routine drills near Taiwan.

Taiwan witnessed 950 intrusions by China

In 2021, Taiwan saw 950 intrusions by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) military jets into its Air Defence Identification Zone - a 60% increase from the previous year. Furthermore, Taiwanese media said that the island is expecting an increase in the number of invasions as China has increased sorties in recent years, AP reported. Taiwan's defence ministry warned back in October that military tensions with China had reached their highest point in the last four years.

(With inputs from ANI, Image: AP)