Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday that the province was determined to defend itself against enemies, noting that potential invaders – a thinly veiled hint to China – would pay a “heavy price” if they incur offensives against the territory.
The statement comes amid an intensification of military maneuvers carried out by China around the island after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taipei. Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province and an inalienable part of its territory. The visit of American authorities, in this context, would represent violations of Chinese sovereignty.
“What we have to do is let the enemy understand that Taiwan has the determination and preparation to defend the country, as well as the ability to defend itself,” Tsai said. “A heavy price will be paid for invading Taiwan or trying to invade Taiwan, and this will be strongly condemned by the international community.”
In addition to the scenario of growing tension, the speech by the Taiwanese president comes on the date that the island commemorates the 64th anniversary of a confrontation known as “bombing 823”. At the time, in 1958, Taiwanese forces repelled a Chinese artillery attack on Kinmen and Matsu islands off the mainland — a victory that symbolizes the province’s resistance to Beijing’s military might.
Meeting with military officials, Tsai extolled Taiwan’s defense spirit. That year, China fired 470,000 projectiles towards the islands, in an attack that lasted 44 days and killed 618 people.
“That battle to protect our territory showed the world that no threat diminishes the determination of the people of Taiwan to defend their nation, either in the past, or in the present, or in the future,” Tsai said.
Earlier in the day, the president met with a delegation of US academics, including Matt Pottinger, who was deputy national security adviser under Donald Trump. During the meeting, Tsai said the 1958 battle paved the way for what the province is today. “Sixty-four years ago, during the August 23 battle, our soldiers and civilians operated in solidarity and protected Taiwan, so we have democratic Taiwan today,” she said.
During the clashes, Taiwan struggled with support from the United States, which sent in military equipment, including advanced anti-aircraft missiles that gave the island a technological edge.
Often called the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, 1958 was the last time Taiwanese forces clashed with China on a large scale.
Although they abandoned formal diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979, the US remains Taiwan’s most important weapons source. Even the approximation between Washington and the province has bothered Beijing, which considers this the most sensitive point in the relationship between the two countries.
The raids intensified with Pelosi’s visit, which triggered record-breaking military exercises. However, the tension gained a new element last Sunday (21), with the arrival of the governor of Indiana, Eric Holcomb, to Taipei, a week after the visit of another delegation of five American congressmen. Holcomb’s visit marks the third time in 20 days that a US official has visited Taiwan.
The US accuses China of using Pelosi’s trip as a pretext to intimidate and undermine Taiwan’s resistance, and warns of a possible miscalculation involving military pressure against the province.
This Monday (22), Chinese diplomacy criticized Washington for adopting what it calls “empty rhetoric and hegemonic logic” towards Taiwan, arguing that the US increases pressure in the region and “throws mud on China”.
The Taiwan government argues that because the People’s Republic of China has never ruled the island, it has no right to claim it or decide its future, which can only be defined by Taiwan’s 23 million people.
