jpnn.com, TAIPEI - Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen marked the new year 2022 with a message to China that military conflict was not the answer.
"We must remind the Beijing authorities to not misjudge the situation and to prevent the internal expansion of military adventurism," Tsai said on Saturday in a New Year's address broadcast live on Facebook.
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China claims democratically-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory. Beijing has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure in the past two years to assert its claim to sovereignty.
In a New Year's address, Chinese President Xi Jinping a day earlier said the complete unification of the motherland was an aspiration shared by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
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Taiwan claims to be an independent nation and has repeatedly vowed to defend its freedoms and democracy.
"The military is definitely not an option for solving cross-strait disagreements. Military conflicts would impact economic stability," Tsai said.
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"Our two sides jointly shoulder the responsibility of maintaining regional peace and stability," she added.
To defuse tensions in the region, both Taipei and Beijing must work hard to safeguard people's livelihoods and soothe people's hearts to find peaceful solutions to common problems, Tsai said.
Tsai also said Taiwan would continue to monitor the situation in Hong Kong, alluding that the interference of senior staff in the recent legislative elections in the pro-democracy media Stand News "made people worry even more about human rights and freedom of speech in Hong Kong."
Stable governance is Taiwan's most important goal in 2022, according to Tsai.
"We will hold fast to our sovereignty, uphold the values of freedom and democracy, defend territorial sovereignty and national security, and maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region," she said. (ant/dil/mcr20/jpnn)
This news has been broadcast on JPNN.com with the title: China Makin Garang, Pemimpin Taiwan Mengajak Hindari Perang