President affirms Taiwan’s resolve on 64th anniversary of Kinmen bombardment

President Tsai Ing-wen (???) said on Tuesday the nation’s success in defending an offshore frontline island from Chinese bombardment 64 years ago was a testament that “no threat of any kind could shake the Taiwanese people’s resolve to defend their nation,” amid the latest round of cross-Strait tensions following a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this month.

Citing the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as an example, Tsai told a visiting delegation from Stanford University’s Hoover Institution that the Ukrainian people have been an inspiration to the rest of the world in safeguarding their freedom and democracy.

More than six decades ago, Taiwanese people carried out a similar feat, according to Tsai during the meeting in the Presidential Office.

“Sixty-four years ago during the Battle of the Taiwan Strait of the 1958, soldiers and civilians operated in solidarity and safeguarded Taiwan so that we have the democratic Taiwan of today,” Tsai told the visiting delegation which consisted of scholars and former U.S. officials.

“That battle to protect our homeland showed the world that no threat of any kind could shake the Taiwanese people’s resolve to defend their nation, not in the past, not now, not in the future,” she said.

“We too will show the world that the people of Taiwan have both the resolve and confidence to safeguard peace, security, freedom, and prosperity for ourselves.”

Tsai was referring to the Aug. 23 Artillery Bombardment of the outlying island county of Kinmen in 1958, as Tuesday was the 64th anniversary of the key battle marking the beginning of the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis.

On Aug. 23, 1958, nine years after the Republic of China (ROC) government relocated from mainland China to Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war, Chinese communist forces launched an attack on the ROC-held Kinmen island, which lies less than 10 kilometers off the southeast coast of China.

Over the next 44 days, 475,000 artillery shells were fired at Kinmen in an attempt to take over the island, but ROC forces on the island held firm against the Chinese bombardment, according to Taiwan’s historical records.

According to government data, 439 military personnel were killed and 1,911 injured in the bombardment. In addition, 80 civilians lost their lives and 221 were injured, the data showed.

Retired U.S. Navy Admiration, James O. Ellis, now a visiting fellow at Hoover, meanwhile, said his delegation’s presence in Taiwan reaffirmed the American people’s commitment to deepening cooperation.

In 1996, during the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, when Beijing conducted a series of missile tests in the waters surrounding Taiwan, Ellis served as a carrier battle group commander leading contingency response operations in the Taiwan Straits.

“Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), part of this cooperation involves strengthening Taiwan’s capabilities for self-defense as well as the ability of the United States to deter and resist any resort to force across the Taiwan Strait,” Ellis told Tsai.

TRA has been the cornerstone for Washington in handling unofficial relations with Taipei after it changed diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979, including clauses that require it to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

In his address, Ellis said his delegation consisted of a diverse group of experts specialized in Taiwan affairs, People’s Republic of China, U.S. foreign policy, and national security, with different political leanings and views.

However, all of them share a common admiration “for what Taiwan has achieved as a democracy, as an open society, as one of the world’s most dynamic and innovative economies.”

“And thus we come with deep concern about the escalating threats to peace and stability for the people of Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region as well as the growing challenges to security of semiconductor and other supplies on which the entire world depends.”

“Now more than ever we believe it is important for individuals and institutions in the U.S. and other countries to demonstrate support for Taiwan’s right to exist as a self-governing democracy, to cooperate with its vibrant private enterprises, particularly in the high-tech sector, and to maintain close interactions and solidarity with Taiwan’s creative and freedom loving people.”

Ellis was referring to the recent weeklong exercises launched by People’s Liberation Army surrounding Taiwan, a day after a 19-hour-whirwind visit of Pelosi from late Aug. 2 to 3.

Beyond the military maneuvers, Beijing has also suspended the imports of some Taiwanese food and agricultural products in retaliation for Pelosi’s visit, the first by a sitting U.S. House speaker since 1997.

Beijing, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified one day, strongly objects to other countries treating Taiwan as a nation, including sending high-ranking officials to visit.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel