Taiwan’s president calls on China for peaceful coexistence Geopolitics: everything will be fine, right?

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has called on the system’s opponent, China, for peaceful coexistence. “We hope that both sides will resume healthy and orderly exchanges as soon as possible,” she said in her New Year’s speech on Monday. Taiwan wants to find a way so that both sides can coexist in the long term according to the principles of “peace, equality, democracy and dialogue.” “Taiwan’s only choice in the future is to uphold democracy and maintain peace,” the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politician said.

Tsai also responded to Chinese state and party leader Xi Jinping’s New Year’s speech. He said on Sunday: “China will be definitively reunified.” The relationship between Beijing and Taipei is extremely tense. The Chinese Communist Party considers the democratically ruled island with more than 23 million inhabitants part of its territory and has already threatened an invasion. Beijing repeatedly describes the ruling DPP as separatist. When Tsai came to power with the party in 2016, China broke off contact with the Taiwanese government.

On January 13, the people of Taiwan will elect a new president and a new parliament. Tsai is no longer a candidate after two terms in office. The outcome of the elections will probably have a decisive influence on the future relationship with China, as there are also active parties that Beijing views less critically. Some experts do not expect a possible war between China and Taiwan, which has been repeatedly feared, to occur in 2024. According to Tsai, US-backed Taiwan wants to invest a record amount of around 17.74 billion euros in his country. defense budget in 2024. (sda/dpa)