Struggle has no winners and peace is priceless, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te mentioned on Saturday in Hawaii after visiting a memorial to the assault on Pearl Harbor on a visit to the US that has angered Beijing.
Lai is making a delicate two-day journey to Hawaii that’s formally solely a stopover on the way in which to a few Pacific island nations that keep formal ties with Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.
Chatting with members of the abroad Taiwan neighborhood and Hawaii politicians, together with members of Congress Ed Case and Jill Tokuda, Lai referred to his go to to the usArizona Memorial earlier within the day and laid a wreath in reminiscence of those that died within the 1941 Japanese assault.
“Our go to to the memorial immediately particularly reminds us of the significance of making certain peace. Peace is priceless and warfare has no winner. We now have to struggle – struggle collectively – to forestall warfare,” Lai mentioned in English, in a speech carried dwell on tv in Taiwan.
As Lai was attending the occasion, China mentioned it had complained to Washington for arranging for his transit via U.S. territory, whereas vowing “resolute countermeasures” towards a possible arms sale to Taiwan that the U.S. introduced hours earlier than Lai began his journey.
China’s overseas ministry lodged “stern representations” over the transit, China’s Taiwan Affairs Workplace mentioned in an announcement.
“We’re firmly against official exchanges between the US and Taiwan, and we’re firmly against the ‘transit’ of leaders of the Taiwan area to the US below any title and for any cause,” it mentioned.
Safety sources have informed Reuters that China might launch a brand new spherical of warfare video games round Taiwan in response to his go to, his first abroad journey since assuming workplace in Might, having received election in January. China has staged two rounds of main warfare video games round Taiwan up to now this yr.
In his speech Lai switched to Taiwanese, also referred to as Hokkien, and mentioned that by uniting collectively, all difficulties may very well be overcome. “Taiwan’s democracy can turn out to be a mannequin for the worldwide neighborhood,” he mentioned. Lai and his authorities reject Beijing’s sovereignty claims and say they’ve a proper to go to different international locations.
After Hawaii, Lai will go to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, with one other stopover within the U.S. territory of Guam. Hawaii and Guam are dwelling to massive U.S. navy bases.
