Taiwan will ‘not provoke confrontation’ with China, vice president says

TAIPEI Taiwan AP Taiwan will not provoke a confrontation with China the self-ruled island s vice president commented Friday lamenting Beijing s aggressive military posturing against the island democracy that China states as its own We do not seek conflict We will not provoke confrontation mentioned Bi-khim Hsiao adding that her leadership has urged Beijing to communicate with parity and respect Hsiao who has served under Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te since their electoral process win last year noted her authorities has seen a dramatic uptick in provocative and proactive Chinese Communist Party efforts to infiltrate sabotage and divide our society China indicates self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly threatened to annex it by force if necessary In current years Beijing has ramped up its military intimidation of the island sending jets and ships nearby almost daily China refuses to speak with Hsiao and Lai and has labeled them diehard Taiwan independence separatists a designation for which it has threatened the death penalty In a notable attempt of alleged intimidation by Beijing Czech intelligence officers last month stated Chinese diplomats planned to stage a car crash during Hsiao s visit to the country No crash occurred but a Chinese official ran a red light while following Hsiao s car Over the years I have experienced varying degrees of pressure and threats intimidation including twice sanctioned but I will not let that intimidate me or stop me from voicing my views or from voicing the views of people of Taiwan and we will continue to be working in the international society she stated Regarding recurring U S intelligence reports that China may be planning to invade Taiwan before Hsiao announced her establishment is focused on preempting that Everything we are doing right now is to prevent such a conflict from happening not just in but ever she explained Taiwan is very urgently investing in our self-defense capabilities in order to deter any miscalculation and any attempt at disrupting the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait she added Source