"NO ILLUSIONS"
Earlier Lai warned voters to have no illusions about China maintaining peace, but said that he would keep the door open for exchanges with Beijing if he takes power.
Saturday's election will be closely watched from Beijing to Washington as voters choose a new leader to steer the island in the face of an increasingly assertive Beijing.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, rejecting the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government's stance that the island is "already independent".
Beijing has maintained a near-daily military presence around Taiwan - with four Chinese balloons moving across the sensitive median line on Monday, the latest in a series of incursions that Taiwan and conflict experts say is a form of "grey zone" harassment.
Lai said that while China interferes in "every election in Taiwan", the latest efforts are the "most serious".
"In addition to political and military intimidation, (it is using) economic means, cognitive warfare, disinformation, threats and incentives," he told reporters.
"It has resorted to all means to interfere with this election."
President Tsai Ing-wen, who is leaving office after reaching the two-term limit, won a landslide in the last election in 2020.
Under her administration, Beijing has refused all high-level communications with Tsai and ramped up political and military pressures against Taiwan.
Lai said on Tuesday that "as long as there is parity and dignity, Taiwan's door will always be open" for exchanges and cooperation with China under his leadership.
"But we cannot have illusions about peace. Accepting China's 'one-China' principle is not true peace," he said, referring to a Beijing doctrine that Taiwan is a part of China.
"Peace without sovereignty is just like Hong Kong. It is a false peace."
Touting deterrence as a main defence policy, Lai said the DPP's "pursuit of peace relies on strength, not on the goodwill of the aggressor".
"The goodwill of invaders cannot be relied on - if you look at Tibet and Xinjiang in the past, or Hong Kong today, these are all good examples," Lai said.
His opponents on Saturday include Hou Yu-ih, a former police officer and mayor with the Kuomintang (KMT), a party which has long encouraged closer cooperation and compromise with China.
Hou has said that Lai - who has previously dubbed himself a "pragmatic worker for Taiwan's independence" - represents a danger to cross-strait relations.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiYGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jaGluYS1zYXRlbGxpdGUtbGF1bmNoLXRhaXdhbi1lbWVyZ2VuY3ktcGhvbmUtYWxlcnQtNDAzNDU4NtIBAA?oc=5
2024-01-09 08:39:00Z
CBMiYGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vYXNpYS9jaGluYS1zYXRlbGxpdGUtbGF1bmNoLXRhaXdhbi1lbWVyZ2VuY3ktcGhvbmUtYWxlcnQtNDAzNDU4NtIBAA
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar