Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun said on Thursday that “birds, not missiles” should fill the skies, invoking a World War One poem to call for peace, even as China continues daily military activities around the island.
Cheng, chairwoman of Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), is visiting China on what she has described as a “peace” mission aimed at reducing tensions at a time when Beijing has intensified military pressure on Taiwan, which it claims as its own.
China has refused to engage with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, calling him a “separatist”. Lai’s administration has urged Cheng to press Beijing to halt its threats and has said China should instead engage with Taiwan’s democratically elected government.
Peace Appeal in Shanghai
Speaking to reporters at Shanghai’s Yangshan Port, Cheng referred to how ancient Norse sailors described the sea as the “road of the whale”, highlighting the need for humility.
“What should fly in the sky are birds, not missiles. What should swim in the water are fish, not warships,” she said, in remarks broadcast live on Taiwanese television.
Cheng, who is due to travel to Beijing later on Thursday for a possible meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, also quoted part of John McCrae’s World War One poem In Flanders Fields.
“We may not have been able to give our ancestors peace, but we can certainly still give peace to the people of today and the people of the future,” she added.
Rising Military Activity
Despite Cheng’s presence in China, Beijing has continued its military operations around Taiwan.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected six Chinese military aircraft and eight warships around the island in the previous 24 hours.
Michelle Lin, a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said the situation underscored rising pressure.
“The facts prove that the Chinese communists’ military threat against Taiwan is intensifying,” she wrote on Facebook.
“Cheng Li-wun has been on her trip for two days, and the Chinese communists still have a knife at Taiwan’s throat.”
Ongoing Standoff
President Lai has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing, rejecting its sovereignty claims and insisting that only Taiwan’s people can determine their future.
(with inputs from Reuters)
