Lai Ching-te’s New Year address was “filled with lies and nonsense, hostility and malice”, said Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua, adding that Lai had “incited cross-strait confrontation”, Beijing’s Xinhua news agency said.
The Taiwanese President vowed on Thursday to defend the democratic island’s sovereignty in a New Year’s speech, after China carried out military drills.
Beijing launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels this week to encircle Taiwan’s main island, in exercises condemned by Taipei as “highly provocative”.
China claims democratic Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex it.
“My stance has always been clear: to steadfastly defend national sovereignty, strengthen national defence and whole-of-society resilience, comprehensively establish effective deterrence capabilities, and build robust democratic defence mechanisms,” Lai said in a televised address from the Presidential Office.
China’s show of force follows a bumper round of arms sales to Taipei by the United States, Taiwan’s main security backer, and comments from Japan’s prime minister that the use of force against Taiwan could warrant a military response from Tokyo.
Lai stated that international support for Taiwan “has never wavered”, which signalled that “Taiwan is no longer just Taiwan”.
“We are not only indispensable, we are also a trustworthy, responsible force for good in the international community,” Lai added.
