President Lai Ching-te on Thursay said Beijing ‘has no right to represent Taiwan’ but he was willing to work with it to maintain peace
A Taiwan ese Air Force fighter jet takes off at an airforce base in Hsinchu on Monday after China deployed planes and ships to encircle Taiwan . Photograph: I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images China ’s military and coast guard have surrounded Taiwan ’s main island as part of large-scale drills that it said were a warning against “separatist acts”, in the wake of a recent speech by Taiwan ’s president.
The PLA did not say when the drills would end, and did not announce any live-fire or no-fly zones. Provided maps showed nine declared zones for the exercises, including six large areas near Taiwan’s major ports. “We call on the PRC to act with restraint and to avoid any further actions that may undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, which is essential to regional peace and prosperity and a matter of international concern,” state department spokesman Matthew Miller said, using the initials for China’s official name.
Mr Lai’s National Day speech was seen by analysts as restrained, and more measured than his May inauguration speech. Writing for the Council on Foreign Relations, David Sacks said on Friday that if China were to react aggressively to it, then “Lai may very well conclude that there is little to be gained through restraint and may embrace more explicit rhetoric on cross-strait relations”.
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