TAIPEI (TAIWAN) – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen urged on Tuesday for an alliance of democracies to protect against “aggressive actions” and uphold freedom. He was referring to the actions of China in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait as posing threat to regional stability.
China has build up its military activities in the island, as well as in the disputed East and South China Seas.
Tsai said Taiwan’s focus was upholding democracy from “authoritarian aggression”.
“The rapid militarisation of the South China Sea, increasing and frequent grey-zone tactics in the Taiwan Strait and East China Sea, coercive diplomacy used against countries and corporations…are all destabilising the Indo-Pacific region.”
Tsai said, without directly pointing out at China, “It is time for like-minded countries, and democratic friends in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, to discuss a framework to generate sustained and concerted efforts to maintain a strategic order that deters unilateral aggressive actions.”
She said a strategy was needed that would avoid war. However, it also stressed their resolve to protect democracies. For that, it would be encouraging cooperation, transparency and solving problems through the means of a dialogue.
China has pressurised Taiwan to accept its sovereignty over the island, and its way of response was by seeking closer ties with “like-minded” democracies.