TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te urged China on Friday to “relax its fists” and not take any unilateral action, saying ahead of expected Chinese military exercises around the island that Beijing would not gain any respect for the military drills.
China, which claims democratic Taiwan as its territory, is expected to launch another round of exercises in response to Lai’s trip to the Pacific, which included stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam, according to security sources.
Speaking to reporters in the Pacific island nation of Palau on the final day of his tour, Lai said he hoped China would return to a rules-based international order.
“It is better to open your hands than to clench your fists. Only in this way can China win the respect of the international community,” Lai said, in comments broadcast live on Taiwanese television stations.
“No matter how many military exercises China conducts and how many ships and planes it sends to intimidate regional countries, China will not win the respect of any country,” he added, calling on Beijing to stop its “disturbing and deplorable” unilateral actions.
Asked about possible Chinese exercises, Lai said Taiwan’s engagement with the world “should not be used as an excuse for provocation by authoritarian countries.”
Taiwan’s government fully understands the security situation in the region and has made “the best preparations” to ensure the security of the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from China, he said.
China despises Lai, calling him a “separatist” and has rejected his numerous offers for talks.
Lai rejects Beijing’s claims of sovereignty, saying that only the Taiwanese people can decide their future and that Taiwan has the right to cooperate with the rest of the world.
