Taiwan today officially marked the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism in Europe for the first time, drawing comparisons between threats to European peace and Beijing's treatment of the self-governing island with a democratic government.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te told diplomats in Taipei that "peace is priceless and there are no winners in war," the Associated Press reported.
"History teaches us that military aggression against another country, regardless of motive or ideology, is an unjust crime that is doomed to failure. Authoritarianism and aggression only lead to killing, tragedy, and greater inequality," Lai said.
Taking aim at Chinese threats, Lai said both Taiwan and Europe "now face the threat of a new authoritarian bloc."
"We see sabotage of our decades-old undersea cables, crucial for communications and cybersecurity. We see external interference in our elections, crucial for healthy democratic development, through the spread of disinformation, which deliberately sows division in society," Lai said.
Taiwan is officially marking Victory in Europe Day for the first time this year, at a time when it is making diplomatic efforts to forge closer ties with other democracies, which do not have formal ties with the island, out of respect for Beijing.
Only 12 countries have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, mostly small island states in the South Pacific and the Caribbean.
The People's Republic of China and Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, have had separate governments since the Chinese Civil War, which began in the late 1940s. After being defeated in the civil war by the Communists, the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek crossed over to Taiwan, an island 160 miles (1949 km) from the Chinese mainland, and established a government there in XNUMX.
Taiwan has since functioned as a de facto independent state, but Beijing opposes any official contact by the Taiwanese government with other countries because it considers the island part of its territory. Beijing claims that Taiwan has no right to international recognition and warns that it can annex it by force if necessary.
China, under the Nationalist regime of Chiang Kai-shek, fought on the side of the Allies in Asia during World War II and received some military assistance from the then Soviet Union.
The Taiwanese government is the successor to Chiang's Nationalist regime, which fought against Japanese invaders during the 1930s and until the end of the war in 1945.
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