Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is warning China that “military adventurism” is not the answer, Reuters reported on Sunday.
“We must remind the Beijing authorities to not misjudge the situation and to prevent the internal expansion of military adventurism,” Tsai said in a live Facebook message on Saturday to mark the new year.
Taiwan has publicly said that it is an independent country and has vowed to defend its freedom and democracy.
The Chinese government, meanwhile, has claimed Taiwan as its own territory and in the past two years has increased military presence and diplomatic pressure to support its claims, Reuters noted.
A spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhu Fenglian, said Beijing is “willing to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification.”
“But if Taiwan independence separatist forces continue to provoke and coerce, or even cross any red line, we will have to take decisive measures,” Zhu said in a statement.
“The pursuit of independence will only throw Taiwan into a deep chasm and bring about profound catastrophe,” Zhu added.
Tsai also added that military presence isn’t an option to solve “cross-strait disagreements,” saying those types of conflicts would hurt the economic stability, Reuters reported.
In his address marking the start of the new year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the complete unification of “the motherland” is an inspiration shared by people on both sides of the spectrum, Reuters noted.