Tsai: Taiwan is not a pawn, but rather a chess player

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen answers to press during a media event at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday

In a televised interview this week, President Tsai said Taiwan is not a pawn, but rather a chess player, official Taiwan News reported.

Asked by TV journalists if Taiwan is like a pawn, Tsai said that she had been asked this question by a large group of young foreign people before.

“Don’t underestimate Taiwan. A population of 23 million is not a small number, it is not a small country. Taiwan has economic strength and even to a certain extent Taiwan has military strength. In fact, Taiwan itself has considerable strength.” She then concluded by saying that, “Many people say that we are a pawn of others, you should not forget that we ourselves are a chess player.”

One of the hosts of the show then said, “Therefore Trump is our pawn and we’re in between the two big ones.”

In response to the host’s comment Tsai said, “I’m just going with the flow.”

Yesterday, President Tsai named a key ally to head her office and lead communications efforts aimed at shoring up her wilting approval ratings in the run-up to local elections this year, Reuters reported.

The appointment comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Taiwan’s business community to shun any idea of independence for the self-ruled island and promote peace and stable ties with the mainland.

Chen Chu, now the mayor of Taiwan’s southern city of Kaohsiung, takes charge on April 23, as dissatisfaction with some economic policies has pushed Tsai’s approval rating to its second lowest level since she took office in 2016.

“We very much look forward to the important role of ‘Sister Chu’,” Tsai told a news conference.

“During the process of pushing reforms, to have sufficient communications and dialogues between the government and society is very important,” she said as cited by the news agency.

Taiwan’s mayoral and magisterial elections are set for Nov 24 this year. Chen, the manager of Tsai’s successful 2016 election campaign, is a colourful figure of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) who has visited China twice, in 2009 and 2013.

As a former political prisoner at the forefront of Taiwan’s struggle for democracy, Chen has not shied from irritating Beijing, but has repeatedly called for better communication with China.

At the press conference, when asked about relations with China, Tsai said communication applied to “anybody” to balance interests and conflicts, but did not elaborate, Reuters said.

Beijing claims Taiwan as its sacred territory, part of “one China”, and has never renounced the use of force to bring under Chinese control what it considers to be a wayward province.

Chen, who fills a position left vacant after Joseph Wu became foreign minister in February, met Susan Thornton, the U.S. State Department’s senior diplomat for East Asia, during a trip to Washington last month.

According to the Reuters dispatch, she has also urged greater international support for Taiwan and welcomed the opportunity for high-level visits between the island and the United States. MDT/Agencies