Regarding the matter of 19 Chinese Communist warplanes infringing upon the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the Kuomintang (KMT) states that the Chinese Communist authorities should abstain from such military operations. In addition, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration should self-reflect on its “de jure Taiwan independence” related conducts and abstain from increasing the probability of a cross-Strait military conflict.
The KMT believes that an ADIZ acts as a military operations buffer zone. As of now, the intent of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) air force incursions is difficult to discern; for the past few years, the PLA has frequently broken cross-Strait tacit understanding and entered our ADIZ. These actions do nothing except increase the Taiwan people’s antipathy and increase the antagonism of cross-Strait tensions; they also increase the risk of a military miscalculation. The Chinese Communist authorities should cease this conduct immediately and renounce the use of military force against Taiwan.
The KMT also believes that the abrupt increase in cross-Strait military tensions is also related to the DPP’s persistent disparagement of the Republic of China’s (ROC) legitimacy and historical inheritance, in addition to the DPP’s deliberate neglect of the ROC Constitution and the regulations concerning relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Although the DPP, with its complete control of the government, has not yet declared formal Taiwan independence, the conduct of President Tsai Ing-wen and numerous political appointees have already gradually approached “de jure Taiwan independence.” This conduct has caused the current grave instability in the Taiwan Strait.
The KMT reiterates that although the DPP administration hopes to forcefully resist Chinese Communist military pressure by means of legislation which substantially increase the National Defense budget, it ignores the importance of conducting simultaneous political dialogue. As a result, it is impossible to achieve the objective of genuinely safeguarding Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.
The KMT emphasizes that the United States and most of the countries located near the Taiwan Strait point out that meaningful cross-Strait dialogue must be held, and more crucially, only by means of exchange and dialogue can the antagonisms between the authorities on the two sides of the Strait be resolved and mutual trust be accumulated. Therefore, the KMT, which founded the ROC in 1912, is not worried about false accusations of being “pro-Communist,” and will continue to call upon experts who possess proper understanding of cross-Strait relations, overseeing the DPP administration’s position and its cross-Strait policies. The KMT furthermore calls upon the mainland Chinese authorities to resolve cross-Strait issues peacefully.
