Chinese military drills encircling Taiwan undermine status quo, create high tensions in Indo-Pacific: Taiwan President

Taipei [Taiwan], August 5 (ANI): Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said that China initiated live-fire military exercises around Taiwan undermine the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, encroach upon the island nation’s sovereignty and create high tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.
This remarks were delivered by the President over the live-fire military exercises China has been conducting in areas around Taiwan because of being irked by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit.
A press release which gave a translation of the president’s remarks, Tsai Thursday evening said, “China initiated live-fire military exercises in areas around Taiwan. This type of continued, deliberately heightened military threat, especially the dangerous launch of missiles into some of the busiest transportation corridors in the world, is irresponsible, both to Taiwan and to the entire international community.”
“This not only undermines the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and encroaches upon our nation’s sovereignty. It also creates high tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, as part of which air and maritime transportation safety, as well as the normal functioning of international trade, are all coming under unprecedented threat. We solemnly call upon China to act with reason and exercise restraint,” she added.
Moreover, she emphasized that Taiwan will neither escalate conflict nor instigate disputes But it will resolutely defend its nation’s sovereignty and security as a bulwark of democracy and freedom.
“As we speak, our nation’s armed forces are already heightening their readiness, and are closely following in real time all military developments in surrounding areas. We are also in close contact with our allies, working together to halt further escalation of the regional security situation,” she continued.
Moreover she said that the national security agencies are monitoring the situation, and are communicating closely with other government agencies in order to ensure that flight and shipping routes remain safe and open, that Taiwan’s airports and seaports continue to function normally, and that nation’s economy and financial markets remain stable.
President Tsai assured the Taiwanese nationals that the government is responding with a steady hand against the Chinese aggression. She apprised the international community that democratic Taiwan has consistently been a responsible member.
“We will work to maintain the peaceful and stable status quo in the Taiwan Strait. We are calm and will not act in haste. We are rational and will not act to provoke. But we will absolutely not back down.”
Tsai during her address called upon the international community to support democratic Taiwan and come together to put a halt to these unilateral and irrational military actions.
“As we have in the past, Taiwan will work with those in the region and democratic partners around the world to uphold peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region.”
She asserted that over the next few days, China most likely will conduct intensive information warfare operations.
“These will include cyberattacks on Taiwan’s public and private sectors, as well as attempts to cause psychological unrest among our people through disinformation campaigns.”
To address cyberattacks, she noted that she has instructed government agencies to be on heightened alert, and called on private enterprises to step up their response measures.
“To address information warfare, especially information from Chinese sources, I ask all our friends from the media to be even more meticulous when fact checking and extra careful with attribution. I also ask my fellow citizens to remain alert.”
Tsai stated that she directed all government agencies to provide the correct information as soon as possible.
Concluding her address she thanked the G7 countries and other allies around the world for supporting peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region, and for reiterating their firm commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
She emphasized again that peace in the Taiwan Strait is the shared responsibility of everyone in the region. “We are doing our utmost to uphold the cross-strait status quo, and we remain open to constructive dialogue.” (ANI)