Taiwan Offers ‘Cooperation’ With China As Beijing Prepares Invasion

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BEIJING/TAIPEI (Worthy News) – Taiwan’s embattled President Lai Ching-te has offered “cooperation” and “goodwill” towards China after Beijing held threatening war games nearly encircling the democratically ruled island nation.

China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, carried out the military drills on Thursday and Friday, calling them “punishment” for Lai’s inauguration speech last week, which Beijing called “another push” for the island’s “formal independence.”

The weekend drills, the largest in more than a year, were signs that Beijing prepared for an invasion, experts suggested, despite the reported presence of U.S. troops there.

China’s Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), which dwarfs Taipei’s outgunned military, began its massive exercises on Thursday morning, sending warships and fighter jets around Taiwan and its outlying islands in what it called “a strong punishment for separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces.”

On Friday, the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command said it was continuing the drills on both sides of the Taiwan island chain to “test the ability to jointly seize power, launch joint attacks and occupy key areas.”

However, Lai told his ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the southern city of Tainan that Lai had urged China to “share the heavy responsibility of regional stability with Taiwan.”

BIPARTISAN GROUP

He spoke as the first group of U.S. lawmakers since Lai took office and arrived on the island on Sunday for a four-day visit, led by Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

McCaul and a bipartisan group of five other lawmakers were to meet Lai on Monday morning to “exchange views on peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” Taiwan’s presidential office said.

“Taiwan is a thriving democracy. The U.S. will continue to stand by our steadfast partner and work to maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” McCaul added.

Taiwan’s government has condemned
China’s war games, but seems to strike a balance with its aggressive communist-run neighbor.

Over the past four years, China has staged regular military activities around Taiwan as it seeks to pressure the island’s government.

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