By Ben Blanchard
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s message to the international community is that it is determined to defend itself and that people should not believe any claim it has surrendered in the event of invasion, President Lai Ching-te said on Saturday, capping a week of defence events.
Democratically-governed Taiwan has faced stepped up military pressure from China, which views the island as its own territory. Taiwan’s government rejects those claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
Addressing a forum on Taiwan’s efforts to boost its preparations for natural disaster or war, Lai referenced the government’s new civil defence handbook, which was launched on Tuesday as part of efforts to get people ready for a possible Chinese attack.
The handbook gives vital information on how to stay safe, he said to an audience that included Western envoys to Taipei.
“More importantly, we tell everyone, ‘In the event of a military invasion of Taiwan, any claim that the government has surrendered or that the nation has been defeated is false,'” Lai said, quoting one of the key messages in the handbook.
“As commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Republic of China, I want to tell my fellow citizens and the international community that this is Taiwan’s position,” he said, using Taiwan’s formal name.
“We are determined to defend freedom and democracy and a sustainable Taiwan.”
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
Taiwan this week hosted its largest ever arms show, drawing a host of international companies looking to win a share of the island’s rapidly increasing defence spending.
Taiwan is also actively courting global defence companies for closer collaboration, such as joint production of weapons.
Speaking separately on Saturday at the opening of a branch office in Taipei, Brandon Tseng, president of U.S. company Shield AI, said his company could have hundreds of employees in Taiwan over the next three to five years.
“It’s a region that Shield AI is deeply investing in and deeply committed to,” said Tseng, who chatted with Lai on Friday as he visited the arms show, where the company was showcasing its V-BAT drones that have been combat-tested in Ukraine.
Shield AI this month signed a “teaming agreement” with Taiwan government defence contractor Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation, although Tseng declined to give details on possible sales to the island.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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