Taiwan's President Calls for Fight Against "Red Terror"

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te strongly called for the protection of democracy and unity in the fight against political and legal pressure from Beijing on Sunday, during the annual convention of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. He called on his party colleagues to stand on the front lines against the threat, which he described as Chinese "red terror".

He symbolically delivered his speech in Taiwanese (Hokkien) instead of the official Mandarin.

The president highlighted what he called China's "legal warfare", citing China's new ethnic unity law. The legislation is causing serious concern in Taiwan, as it could serve as a pretext for Beijing to prosecute or arrest Taiwanese labeled as separatists, even though the Chinese legal system has no real jurisdiction on the island.

Beijing, which considers Taiwan an inalienable part of its territory, has long rejected Lai and labeled him a dangerous separatist.

Lai emphasized that Taiwan is a sovereign state and is in no way subordinate to the People's Republic of China. He declared that the island's future must be decided exclusively by its 23 million residents. Despite decades of diplomatic and military pressure, he said, Taiwan has proven to the world that democracy is not a sign of weakness but of strength.

(Reuters, Max)