Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate of the island's ruling party, vowed Tuesday he would maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait if elected and remain open for engagement with Beijing on the basis of equality and dignity.
Voters in the self-ruled democracy will go to the polls on Saturday to pick the successor of the incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen. Beijing, which aims to bring the territory into its fold by force if necessary, has slammed Lai as an advocate of "Taiwan independence" and a "troublemaker" who seeks to drive the island to war.
Lai stressed at a Taipei press conference with international media that maintaining the cross-strait status quo is in the common interests of Taiwan, China and the international community.
"Even as we stand at the forefront of defending our values against authoritarianism, we are determined to safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Lai said. "Peace is priceless and war has no winners."
"Even as we stand at the forefront of defending our values against authoritarianism, we are determined to safeguard peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Lai said. "Peace is priceless and war has no winners."
Lai, who heads the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, also pledged continuity regarding Tsai's policies on foreign affairs, defense and cross-strait relations.
China has ramped up military pressure on the island in recent years, conducting large-scale exercises around Taiwan. Nine countries have cut off their official diplomatic ties with the island in favor of Beijing since Tsai assumed office in May 2016.
Lai alleged at the news conference that China attempts to influence all of Taiwan's elections, and has sought to push a narrative of a choice between "war and peace" in the upcoming leadership poll, combined with economic coercion and fake news to sway voters into installing a pro-Beijing government.
"If China's intervention is successful, then whoever China decides to support will be elected and Taiwan's democracy will be gone," Lai warned. His rival Hou Yu-ih, the candidate of the main opposition Nationalist Party, is calling for dialogue with the mainland.
The upcoming election serves as a "testament to our commitment to democracy," Lai said, adding that he is confident the international community will witness the "robustness of Taiwan's democracy."
Communist-led China and the self-ruled island have been governed separately since they split in 1949 due to a civil war.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's Defense Ministry issued an island-wide emergency alert message to the public via their smartphones later Tuesday as China launched a satellite that passed through airspace over southern Taiwan.
The alert came as Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu held a press conference for international media outlets ahead of Saturday's election. Wu criticized China for carrying out the launch at a sensitive time before the poll, calling the move "gray zone activity," an aggressive act that falls short of an armed attack.
"With this kind of threat against Taiwan, I think we should be clear-eyed, we should not be provoked," Wu said. He added that Taiwan's presidential race is the most important test for the international community in terms of jointly pushing back against election interference.
China sent a satellite carrying new X-ray detection technology into space at 3:03 p.m. on a Long March-2C carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province for scientific space observation reasons, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Taiwan's defense ministry offered an apology as it incorrectly said in the English part of the message, "Air raid alert" and "Missile flyover Taiwan airspace, be aware."
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