Democracy is not a crime and authoritarianism is the real “evil”, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Monday, after China threatened to impose the death penalty in extreme cases for hardline Taiwan independence separatists.
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has made no secret of its dislike of Lai, who took office last month, saying he is a “separatist”, and staged war drills shortly after he took office.
China on Friday stepped up pressure on Taiwan, issuing new legal guidelines to punish those who support the island’s formal independence, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction on the democratically governed island.
Asked about China’s move at a press conference at the presidential office in Taipei, Lai reiterated his sympathy for the recent floods in southern China before responding.
He said, “I want to emphasize that democracy is not a crime; the real evil is autocracy. China has no right to impose sanctions on Taiwanese people based solely on their positions. Furthermore, China has no right to violate the rights of Taiwanese people across borders.”
Lai said that according to China, anyone who does not support “reunification” is a supporter of Taiwan independence.
“I also want to call on China to acknowledge the existence of the Republic of China and to engage in exchanges and dialogue with the democratically elected, legitimate government of Taiwan,” he said, using Taiwan’s formal name. “If this is not done, relations between Taiwan and China will deteriorate further.”
Taiwan said Chinese military flights had increased sharply since Thursday, as Beijing carried out “joint combat readiness patrols” near the island.
Taiwan has said it detected 115 Chinese military aircraft flying within 31 nautical miles (57 km) of the island’s southern tip between Thursday and Sunday.
Taiwan has said China has carried out regular military activities around the island for the past four years as part of a “grey zone” pressure campaign.
Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang combat drills next month will aim to simulate real-life warfare as closely as possible given the rapidly growing “enemy threat” from China, a senior official said.
Lai rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the people of Taiwan can decide their own future. He has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been rebuffed.
China says any move by Taiwan to declare formal independence would be grounds for attacking the island.
The government in Taipei says Taiwan is already an independent country, the Republic of China, and it does not plan to change it. The Republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s Communists.
Lai also faces domestic challenges, as his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its majority in parliament in the same January election that brought him to power.
Speaking at the same press conference, Lai said he would request the Constitutional Court to halt a package of controversial parliamentary reforms passed by the opposition and consider whether they are in accordance with the constitution.
The opposition says the reforms, which among other things criminalise contempt of Parliament by government officials, are necessary to bring greater accountability, but the DPP says they were rushed through without proper debate.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)