KINMEN, Taiwan — Peace can only be secured through strength and not even an inch of territory can be sacrificed, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Sunday, visiting a sensitive frontline island to mark a key battle with Chinese forces almost seven decades ago.
\n\nTaiwan has controlled the Kinmen and Matsu islands, which lie just off the Chinese coast, since the Republic of China government fled to Taipei in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists. No peace treaty or armistice has ever been signed.
\n\nIn heavy rain, Lai laid a wreath and bowed at a memorial park for the 68th anniversary of the 1958 clash with Chinese forces, known as the start of the second Taiwan Strait crisis — the last time Taiwanese and Chinese forces battled on a large scale.
\n\nAddressing veterans later, Lai expressed gratitude to those who “stood united and fought a bloody battle to repel Communist totalitarian aggression”.
\n\n“Our resolve to unite in defending national sovereignty and safeguarding peace across the Taiwan Strait must never waver,” Lai said. “Peace has never simply fallen from the sky.”
\n\nThe 1958 battle proves “that peace is secured through strength,” he said, adding it was necessary…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/