Taiwan Reaffirms Independence on National Day

Taiwan’s National Day address was in stark contrast to the message put forth by China for its CCP anniversary. Xi Jingping of China used his national holiday to reaffirm his commitment to reunifying Taiwan with China. Taiwan’s leadership used the day to reaffirm that China “has no right to represent Taiwan.”

“The Republic of China [Taiwan’s official name] — which took root in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu — and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” President Lai Ching-te said. Lai, who has been deemed a terrorist by the Chinese Communist Party, said that the people but “resist annexation” as China’s military presence continues to grow. “We hope that China will live up to the expectations of the international community, that it will apply its influence and work with other countries toward ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East,” Taiwan’s president stated.

Meanwhile, China said that Taiwan’s claims of separatism are obsolete. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Lai’s message “exposed his hell-bent position on independence and his sinister intention to escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait for political self-interest.” Worse, she said that his strong message could result in China taking military action against Taiwan.

Global tensions seem to increase by the day amid deteriorating economic conditions, with major conflicts now including Ukraine v. Russia, the growing threat of Russia v. NATO, Israel v. Palestine, Israel & US v. Iran, and now China threatening Taiwan, among others. While it’s too early to say World War III has arrived, we are clearly a world at war, and it’s possible that regional conflicts could morph into something larger.