President of Taiwan Lai Ching-te said in a news briefing on Wednesday that if given the chance, he would tell U.S President Donald Trump of his hope to continue arms purchases from the United States. He said the arrangement was essential for peace and offered assurances that the region’s future would not be decided by external forces.
Halfway through his term, Lai has been under mounting pressure from China, which considers the island as a breakaway province to be seized by force if necessary. Trump’s recent visit to China has also raised concerns regarding the United States’ stance on Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Lai said if he could talk to the U.S President, he would assert that peace and stability in the Taiwanese strait was crucial for global security and called China the “destroyer” of the strait’s peace.
He also stated he would assure Trump that Taiwan’s growing defense budget was in response to Chinese security threats.
“No country has the right to annex Taiwan,” said Lai “Democracy and freedom should also not be seen as provocation.”
Beijing has deemed Lai as a separatist, who still stands firm despite Chinese President Xi Jinping’s objection to Trump’s $14 billion arms package to Taiwan, which was approved in December last year.
Trump told Fox News after his visit to Beijing that the approval of the new package depended on China and later told reporters that he would need to talk to the leader of Taiwan. However, he did not mention Lai by name. China typically condemns visits to the island by U.S politicians. Therefore, a meeting between Trump and Lai would not be well-received by the Xi administration.
Lai said in his speech that he was open to engage in healthy and orderly exchanges with Beijing under the principles of equality and unity, but strongly rejected united front tactics which he said “packaged unification as peace”.
