Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen Photo: RNZ / Kaye Albyt
Armed confrontation between Taiwan and China is "absolutely not an option", Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says, pledging to boost the island's defences while reiterating her willingness to talk to Beijing.
Taiwan, which most countries recognise as a self-governing territory of China, has come under increasing military and political pressure from Beijing, especially after Chinese war games in early August following a controversial Taipei visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Tsai, in her national day speech outside the presidential office, said it was "regrettable" that China had escalated what she called its intimidation, which threatened peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and region.
China should not think there is room for compromise in the commitment of Taiwan's people to democracy and freedom, she said.
"I want to make clear to the Beijing authorities that armed confrontation is absolutely not an option for our two sides. 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."
Tsai said her government looked forward to the gradual post-pandemic resumption of healthy and orderly people-to-people exchanges across the strait, which would ease tensions.
But Taiwan will show the world it is taking responsibility for its own defence, she added.
Taiwan was ramping up mass production of precision missiles and high-performance naval vessels, and working to acquire small, highly mobile weapons that would ensure Taiwan was fully prepared to respond to "external military threats", Tsai said.
She has made strengthening Taiwan's defences a cornerstone of her administration to enable it to mount a more credible 'deterrence' to China, which is ramping up an ambitious modernisation programme of its own military.
-Reuters/RNZ