Taiwan election is between democracy and autocracy, says VP William Lai

Taiwan’s election next year will be a decision between democracy and autocracy, Vice President William Lai said in remarks televised after China conducted military manoeuvres surrounding the island in response to his visit to the United States earlier this month. Lai, the favourite to be Taiwan’s next president in the January elections, made brief stops in the United States this month on his route to and from Paraguay, infuriating Beijing, which regards him as a dangerous separatist given China’s territorial claims over the island. Taiwan’s defence ministry announced on Sunday morning that 25 Chinese air force jets had crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line in the previous 24 hours, which had traditionally acted as an unofficial barrier between the two sides. According to a map issued by the ministry, this included Su-30 and J-11 fighter planes, however there was no indication China was continuing its operations on Sunday. Taiwanese officials have previously stated that China was likely to conduct military drills close to the island, using Lai’s US stops as a pretext to terrorise voters before next year’s presidential election and make them “fear war”. Lai claimed it was not up to China to judge who won the election in an interview broadcast late Saturday with a Taiwanese television station, but conducted while he was in New York last weekend. “It’s not who China likes today, and then they can assume to post. This goes against the spirit of Taiwan’s democracy, and represents huge damage to Taiwan’s democratic system,” he said. There is no cause for China to “make a fuss over nothing” when it comes to foreign travel by Taiwanese leaders, Lai said. “My position is that Taiwan is not a part of the People’s Republic of China. We are willing to link up with the international community and talk to China under the guarantee of security.” China has for many years wanted to “annex” Taiwan and this is not something that started under the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, he said, pointing to battles along the Chinese coast in the 1950s that saw China seize Taiwan-controlled islets. “This election is not a choice between peace and war. We can’t order off a menu, choosing peace and then there’s peace, choosing war and then there’s war. That’s not the case. What it is is that we have the right to choose whether we want democracy or autocracy. This is the real choice we have to make in this election.” China has demanded that Taiwan’s government accept both sides of the Taiwan Strait are part of “one China”, which it has refused to do. China’s Eastern Theatre Command, on its official WeChat account, posted a short video clip late Saturday of a map of Taiwan superimposed with three slogans: “Relying on the US is an evil road”, “Seeking independence is a dead end”, and “Reunification is the right road”. The US urged China on Saturday to stop pressuring Taiwan. “We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan,” a State Department spokesperson told Reuters in a statement. The US would continue to monitor the exercises closely, the department statement said.