Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on Sunday expressed his gratitude to the United States and the international community for support amid higher tensions in the region, calling on China to jointly shoulder the important responsibility of regional stability.
"I am very grateful to US President Biden, the US government and Congress, and other countries around the world for their firm support for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," Lai told reporters in southern Taiwan at an event held by his independence-leaning Progressive Progressive Party Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
During his inaugural speech on Monday, Lai stressed that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are indispensable to global security and prosperity.
"Any country that creates disturbance in the Taiwan Strait and affects regional stability will not be accepted by the international community," Lai said.
Lai said he is very much looking forward to enhancing mutual understanding and reconciliation through exchanges and cooperation with China in order to create mutual benefits.
Lai's comments came just a day after Washington said it was "deeply concerned" about China's military drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan, that were conducted days after Lai's inauguration.
"We are monitoring PRC activities closely and coordinating with allies and partners regarding our shared concerns," US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement on Saturday.
"We strongly urge Beijing to act with restraint. Using a normal, routine, and democratic transition as an excuse for military provocations risks escalation and erodes longstanding norms that for decades have maintained peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which is critical for regional and global security and prosperity and a matter of international concern,” Miller said.
Biden also showed support on Saturday, during his 2024 Commencement Address at the US Military Academy. He stressed that the US elevated the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, together with Japan, India and Australia, to advance free, open, secure, and prosperous Info-Pacific.
"We're standing up for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," Biden said.
China said late on Friday that it had concluded a two-day military drills, which included a simulated blockade of the island.
In Taipei on Sunday, the Foreign Ministry reiterated that China will inevitably fail to gain recognition from the international community because it has shown its blatant attempt to interfere in Taiwan's democracy by using the inauguration as an excuse to exert military pressure and make intimidating remarks.
Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949, but China considers the self-ruled democracy part of its territory.
The United States maintains a certain amount of strategic ambiguity when it comes to Taiwan, officially recognizing only the Beijing government, but it is required to support Taiwan's defence capabilities through the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.