TAIPEI — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has written to Pope Francis to say that battle between Taiwan and China will not be an choice and solely by respecting the Taiwanese folks’s insistence on sovereignty and freedom can there be wholesome ties with Beijing.
The Vatican is Chinese-claimed Taiwan’s sole European diplomatic ally, and Taipei has watched with concern as Pope Francis has moved to enhance relations with China. The democratically ruled island has formal ties with solely 14 nations, largely as a result of Chinese strain.
In the letter, despatched in response to the Pope’s World Day Of Peace message on Jan. 1, Tsai stated battle in Ukraine has made the world respect the worth of peace and that sustaining regional safety has turn out to be an necessary consensus.
“In my National Day speech last year, I reiterated that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are the foundation for the development of cross-Strait relations and armed confrontation is absolutely not an option,” Tsai stated, based on a replica of the letter launched by her workplace on Monday.
“Only by respecting the commitment of the Taiwanese people to our sovereignty, democracy, and freedom can there be a foundation for resuming constructive interaction across the Taiwan Strait,” she stated, referring to the speech she gave on Oct. 10 final 12 months.
China staged battle video games close to Taiwan final August, and Beijing has by no means renounced the usage of pressure to carry the island below its management.
Tsai wrote that Taiwan has despatched humanitarian help to Ukraine, and supplied masks and protecting tools to nations in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, because it “hopes to give the world a better Taiwan.”
“Though we are still excluded from the World Health Organization, we are convinced that taking the lead in making positive contributions will drive a ‘virtuous circle’,” she added.
Taiwan has complained repeatedly that its exclusion from the WHO, as a result of Chinese strain, has hampered efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the WHO and China have denied that.
Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying that solely the island’s 23 million folks can resolve their future. — Reuters
