Taiwan President William Lai has pledged to uphold Taiwan's self-governing status while marking the 75th anniversary of the victory over communist forces in the Battle of Guningtou, reported Taipei Times.
He said that his "mission" as president was to "ensure that our nation endures and progresses" and "resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty."
China views Taiwan as part of its territory and has never renounced the idea of taking it by force while continuing to undermine Taipei's diplomatic status on the international stage.
The US "strongly encourages and applauds" the initiatives taken by President William Lai's administration to enhance Taiwan's self-defence through various reforms and investments, Ingrid Larson, the managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan's (AIT) Washington Office, said.
Taiwan's President William Lai Ching-te stated that China sees the "annexation" and "elimination" of Taiwan as a major national cause, addressing cadets at the military's premier institution that they must understand their adversary, reported Al Jazeera.
Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated that China would "surely be reunified" with the self-ruled territory of Taiwan in his New Year's address, renewing Beijing's threat to militarily take over the island but setting no timetable for gaining control, the Voice of America (VoA) reported.
Lai's transits through the United States have enraged Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of their country while the latter called itself a sovereign and independent country and not part of the former.
Days after Beijing condemned Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai for making stopovers in the United States calling him a "troublemaker", China’s Defence Minister Li Shangfu on Tuesday cautioned against “playing with fire” when it comes to Taiwan, Chinese Defence Ministry reported.
US State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel on Monday (local time) said that there is no reason to over-torque about Taiwan Vice President William Lai's transit through the United States into "anything escalatory."