Taiwan to strengthen defences as China tensions escalate
President Tsai Ing-wen on Saturday promised to strengthen Taiwan’s defences and work more closely with regional partners on security as she called for ‘meaningful dialogue’ with China, which claims the island as its own.
In a speech to mark Taiwan’s National Day, Tsai said the government would continue to modernise the island’s defence capabilities and enhance its capacity for asymmetric warfare to “deal with military expansion and provocation from the other side of the Taiwan Strait”. Asymmetric warfare is designed to make any Chinese attack difficult and costly, for example with smart mines and portable missiles.
President Tsai Ing-wen on Saturday promised to strengthen Taiwan’s defences and work more closely with regional partners on security as she called for ‘meaningful dialogue’ with China, which claims the island as its own.
In a speech to mark Taiwan’s National Day, Tsai said the government would continue to modernise the island’s defence capabilities and enhance its capacity for asymmetric warfare to “deal with military expansion and provocation from the other side of the Taiwan Strait”. Asymmetric warfare is designed to make any Chinese attack difficult and costly, for example with smart mines and portable missiles.
Advocate for good
The US is Taiwan’s biggest backer but like most countries has no formal diplomatic ties with the island. It has been pushing Taiwan to modernise its military so the country can become a “porcupine”, small but hard to attack.
Tsai won re-election on a promise to stand up to China, as well as her commitment to democracy and human rights, both values she emphasised again on Saturday.
Noting sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea, the East China Sea and along the India-China border, as well as China’s imposition of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, Tsai said it was “clear that democracy, peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific are currently facing serious challenges.”
Taiwan would continue to forge alliances with like-minded nations, she said.
