Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen marked the new year with a message for China: military conflict is not the answer.
“We must remind the Beijing authorities to not misjudge the situation and to prevent the internal expansion of ‘military adventurism’,” Ms. Tsai said on Saturday in her New Year’s speech broadcast live on Facebook.
In Chinese President Xi Jinping’s New Year address the day before, he said the complete unification of “the motherland” was an aspiration shared by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan says it is an independent country and has repeatedly vowed to defend its freedom and democracy against other forces.
“The military is definitely not an option for solving cross-strait disagreements. Military conflicts would impact economic stability,” Ms. Tsai said.
Taiwan’s stance has always been “to not succumb when facing pressure and to not rashly advance when receiving support,” Ms. Tsai added.
Steady governance is Taiwan’s most important goal in 2022, Ms. Tsai said.