China is currently unlikely to launch a large-scale attack on Taiwan due to domestic challenges, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday. However, China is trying to influence the election in Taiwan, she added.
“I think China’s leadership at this time is overwhelmed with its domestic problems,” Ms. Tsai said at the New York Times’ DealBook meeting.
“I think now is probably not the right time for them to consider the possibility of a large-scale attack on Taiwan,” she said in a previously taped interview.
Ms Tsai made the comments in response to a question about the risk of a Chinese attack on Taiwan, following US President Joe Biden’s meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in California last month.
The talks between the two leaders, who were attending the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation organization, were aimed at preventing the escalation of tensions and their transition into a conflict between the two countries.
But Presidents Xi and Biden remain at odds over the tensions surrounding Taiwan. Chinese leader Xi told his American counterpart at the meeting that Taiwan’s reunification with China is “unstoppable”.
China considers democratic Taiwan as its territory, which can one day be taken by force if necessary.
At the moment, however, Beijing is facing domestic economic, financial and political challenges, Ms Tsai said.
Even the international community has made it clear that war is not an alternative, she added.
But China is still “interested in interfering” in Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election, Ms. Tsai said, adding that Beijing is making efforts to influence its outcome.
“In all major elections in Taiwan since 1996, there have been similar Chinese influence operations,” President Tsai said, noting that they have also been accompanied by military threats and economic pressure.
Instead of hoping that Beijing will end these tactics, Taiwan should “focus on strengthening democracy in the country,” she stressed.
The next presidential election in Taiwan will be held in January. President Tsai is at the end of her second term and under Taiwan’s constitution she will not be eligible to run for another term.