Taiwan's Leader Calls on China to Refrain From Threats Ahead of Expected Military Drills

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te called on China to “open its arms rather than raise its fists” as he wrapped up his first overseas tour since taking office in May.
His remarks at a news conference Friday in Palau, a Pacific Island nation, came in response to widespread speculation that China will hold military drills around Taiwan in response to his trip, The Associated Press said.
“No matter how many military exercises and warships and aircraft are used to coerce neighboring countries, they will not be able to win the respect of any country,” he said.
The president spoke a day after China’s Foreign Ministry announced sanctions on 13 American companies and six executives in response to recently announced US weapons sales to Taiwan.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 during a civil war that saw the victorious communists take control in Beijing and the Nationalists set up a rival government in Taiwan, an island of 23 million people off China's east coast. China's long-ruling Communist Party says that Taiwan is part of China and must come under its control at some point.
Lai's trip to the Pacific, which included US stops in Hawaii and Guam, took him into the heart of a maritime region where China is jockeying with the United States and its allies for influence and control. He also visited the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, three of the 12 countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The rest of the world, including the US, has official ties with China.
The Taiwanese leader, who spoke by phone with US congressional leaders while in Guam, dismissed concern that US President-elect Donald Trump may be less committed to Taiwan’s cause than current President Joe Biden has been.
“Taiwan is confident that it will continue to deepen cooperation with the new government, resist authoritarian expansion, create prosperity and development for both countries, and contribute more to regional stability and peace,” he said.
Lai’s two stops in US territory angered China, which opposes US arms sales and military assistance to Taiwan. Washington is the main supplier of weapons for Taiwan’s defense.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, speaking at a daily briefing in Beijing, accused Taiwan and the US of engaging in official exchanges in Hawaii and Guam and said the US stops provided a platform for Taiwanese independence and separatist activities.
“Lai Ching-te and the DPP authorities have been engaging in Taiwan independence activities under various guises,” Lin said, referring to Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party. “But no matter what they say or do, they will never change the fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor will they stop the overwhelming trend that China will and must be reunited. To seek independence by soliciting foreign support is doomed to failure.”
Lai played up the distinction between authoritarian governments and democracies such as Taiwan and the US, noting Russia's military cooperation with both China and North Korea, including the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia for the war against Ukraine.
“As I have often said before, when authoritarian countries gather together, democratic countries must unite to ensure global and regional stability and development,” he said.
Lai also said that China must stop using threats and inducements to try to persuade other countries to switch diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China, after Paraguay kicked out a visiting Chinese diplomat this week. The envoy had skipped a session at a UN meeting and instead went to Paraguay’s Congress building to urge lawmakers to break off relations with Taiwan.
Lin, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, called Paraguay's accusations unreasonable and unfounded. “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory,” he said. “Reaffirming and adhering to the one-China principle is legitimate and above board anywhere in the world."
Taiwan's small number of diplomatic allies has dwindled further in recent years as Beijing has successfully wooed several to establish ties with China.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would seek to bring interest rates lower by unleashing energy production, and would speak to the Federal Reserve if needed.

"I'll demand that interest rates drop immediately," he told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in a virtual address. "Likewise, they should be dropping all over the world. Interest rates should follow us all over."

The US Federal Reserve has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to keep inflation and employment in check, primarily by raising and lowering the level of short-term interest rates, according to AFP.

As US president, Trump does not have a say over interest rate decisions, a fact that he has frequently criticized.

Trump told reporters in Washington later on Thursday that he would like to see interest rates come down "a lot," adding that lower oil prices should help them to fall.

"When the oil comes down, it'll bring down prices, he said. "Then you won't have inflation, and then the interest rates will come down."

Asked what he would do if the Fed did not lower interest rates, Trump said he would "put in a strong statement" and expected officials to listen to his views, adding that he would consider talking to Fed chair Jerome Powell if needed.

"I think I know interest rates much better than they do," he said. "And I think I know certainly much better than the one who's primarily in charge of making that decision."

"I'm guided by them very much, " he added. "But if I disagree, I will let it be known."

Taiwan's Leader Calls on China to Refrain From Threats Ahead of Expected Military Drills