'Democracy is under threat', says Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen in joint remarks

California: Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday said that democracy is facing an unprecedented challenge and added that the urgency of “keeping the beacon of freedom shining” cannot be understated.

According to a CNN report, Tsai standing alongside US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy while addressing a presser at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California said, “It is no secret that today the peace we have maintained and the democracy which we have worked hard to build are facing unprecedented challenges.”

“We once again find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat and the urgency of keeping the beacon of freedom shining cannot be understated,” she added.

Tsai met McCarthy in Los Angeles on Wednesday, becoming the first Taiwan President to meet with a US House speaker on American soil.

The high-level meeting is the second time Tsai has met with an American lawmaker of that rank in the space of a year, following a visit from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August.

The meeting gave both Tsai and McCarthy a prominent platform to highlight US-Taiwan ties.

“We’re stronger when we are together,” Tsai said in the press conference. “In our efforts to protect our way of life, Taiwan is grateful to have the United States by our side.”

While addressing the presser, McCarthy said, “The friendship between the people of Taiwan and America is a matter of profound importance to the free world. It is critical to maintain economic freedom, peace and regional stability,” reported CNN.

After Tsai landed in California in the US and held a meeting with McCarthy, China vowed that it will take “resolute and effective measures to safeguard national sovereignty,” according to the official statement.

In a statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called Tsai’s visit to US “transit” and said that it “gravely violated” the one-China principle.

The Chinese foreign ministry also said that Tsai and McCarthy still hold the meeting with disregard for China’s serious representations and repeated warnings.

The ministry, in the statement, also said that the US officials are giving Tsai a platform to make separatist remarks seeking “Taiwan independence.”

“This is essentially the United States acting with Taiwan to connive at “Taiwan independence” separatists’ political activities in the United States, conduct official contact with Taiwan and upgrade the substantive relations with Taiwan, and frame it as a transit”, according to the statement.

With inputs from agencies

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