Beijing sent a record number of military aircraft as well as warships and coast guard vessels to encircle Taiwan on Monday in the fourth major round of major drills in just over two years.
Taiwan deployed "appropriate forces" and put outlying islands on heightened alert in response to the exercises, which Beijing said were a "stern warning to the separatist acts of 'Taiwan Independence' forces".
On Friday, Lai visited air force, navy and coast guard facilities in northern Taiwan to thank personnel for "fully defending national security".
"Our determination to protect national sovereignty will not change," Lai said at a coast guard division near the capital.
"Our coast guard colleagues' determination to stabilise the society and ease the public mind... will not change. Our determination to protect fishing rights will not change."
Lai also praised the coast guard for dealing with China's grey-zone tactics with a "positive and decisive attitude" to "protect every inch of the territory".
Grey-zone manoeuvres refer to tactics that fall short of an act of war.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will never renounce the use of force to bring the island under its control.
Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taipei in recent years, sending warplanes and other military aircraft while its ships maintain a near-constant presence around the island's waters.
Lai, who took office in May, has been more outspoken than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen in defending Taiwan's sovereignty, angering Beijing, which calls him a "separatist".
Taiwan blames China for S. Africa's order to move liaison office
Taipei (AFP) Oct 18, 2024 -
South Africa has ordered Taiwan's representative office to relocate outside the capital Pretoria, a Taipei foreign ministry official said Friday, blaming Chinese pressure for the decision.
China considers self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and has sought to wipe the island from the international stage by whittling down the number of countries that recognise its claim to statehood.
"We have been asked to move our representative office out of the capital (Pretoria)," a foreign ministry official told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
"Our reasonable conclusion is that it is part of a series of actions by China to suppress Taiwan," the official said.
"We are still negotiating with South Africa in the hope that there will be room for change."
The official did not say when Pretoria issued the order or when the deadline was for Taiwan to move its office.
Taiwan's semi-official Central News Agency said Thursday that South Africa issued the order on October 7 and gave the representative office until the end of the month to move.
China said Friday that South Africa had made the "right decision" to move the Taipei office out of Pretoria.
"Taiwanese independence advocates do not enjoy popular support and are doomed to failure," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Taiwan has 12 diplomatic allies, with most nations, including South Africa, instead recognising Beijing.
In 2017, Nigeria ordered Taiwan to shut down its trade office in the capital Abuja, in what Taipei said was an attempt by Beijing to push it out of the country.
Relations between Beijing and Taipei have been fraught for years and have spiked since Taiwan President Lai Ching-te took office in May.
Lai is more outspoken than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen in defending Taiwan's sovereignty, angering Beijing which calls him a "separatist".
On Monday, China deployed fighter jets, drones and warships to encircle Taiwan in the fourth round of large-scale military drills in just over two years.
Taipei condemned Beijing's actions as "irrational and provocative", and the island's key backer and biggest arms supplier Washington called them "disproportionate"."
Beijing said the drills were a "stern warning to the separatist acts of 'Taiwan Independence' forces".
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