‘Battle has no winners, peace is priceless’: Taiwan’s Lai Ching-te slams warfare, strikes peaceable tone in Hawaii

Battle has no winners and peace is priceless, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te stated on Saturday in Hawaii after visiting a memorial to the assault on Pearl Harbor on a visit to the US that has angered Beijing.

Lai is making a delicate two-day journey to Hawaii that’s formally solely a stopover on the way in which to a few Pacific island nations that keep formal ties with Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.

Chatting with members of the abroad Taiwan neighborhood and Hawaii politicians, together with members of Congress Ed Case and Jill Tokuda, Lai referred to his go to to the usArizona Memorial earlier within the day and laid a wreath in reminiscence of those that died within the 1941 Japanese assault.

“Our go to to the memorial at the moment specifically reminds us of the significance of guaranteeing peace. Peace is priceless and warfare has no winner. We’ve to struggle – struggle collectively – to forestall warfare,” Lai stated in English, in a speech carried stay on tv in Taiwan.

As Lai was attending the occasion, China stated it had complained to Washington for arranging for his transit via U.S. territory, whereas vowing “resolute countermeasures” towards a possible arms sale to Taiwan that the U.S. introduced hours earlier than Lai began his journey.

China’s international ministry lodged “stern representations” over the transit, China’s Taiwan Affairs Workplace stated in an announcement.

“We’re firmly against official exchanges between the US and Taiwan, and we’re firmly against the ’transit’ of leaders of the Taiwan area to the US beneath any title and for any cause,” it stated.

Safety sources have instructed Reuters that China may launch a brand new spherical of warfare video games round Taiwan in response to his go to, his first abroad journey since assuming workplace in Could, having gained election in January.

China has staged two rounds of main warfare video games round Taiwan thus far this 12 months.

In his speech Lai switched to Taiwanese, also called Hokkien, and stated that by uniting collectively, all difficulties might be overcome. “Taiwan’s democracy can turn into a mannequin for the worldwide neighborhood,” he stated.

Lai and his authorities reject Beijing’s sovereignty claims and say they’ve a proper to go to different international locations.

After Hawaii, Lai will go to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, with one other stopover within the U.S. territory of Guam. Hawaii and Guam are residence to massive U.S. army bases.