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Taiwanese military helicopters rehearse a maneuver for the 10th October National Day celebrations (archive)
Photo: Ceng Shou Yi / NurPhoto / Getty Images
The conflict between Taiwan and China has been simmering for years, and tensions have recently risen again.
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen sees this as a growing threat to her country.
The threat from China "is increasing every day," Tsai said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday by the US broadcaster CNN.
She trusts that the US will stand by Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.
At the same time, Tsai called on democratic partners in the region to support the island republic.
“If authoritarian regimes show expansionist tendencies, democratic countries should band together to confront them.
Taiwan is at the forefront. "
Biden wants to defend Taiwan when attacked by China
Last week, US President Joe Biden promised more clearly than his predecessors that the US would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by China.
China reacted indignantly and accused the US of meddling in internal affairs.
After US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently called for Taiwan to be more involved in the UN system, China has emphatically rejected Taiwan's official involvement in the UN.
Taiwan has "no right to join the United Nations," a spokesman for the Beijing government's Taiwan affairs office said at a press conference on Wednesday.
"The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization made up of sovereign states," said spokesman Ma Xiaoguang.
Taiwan, however, is "part of China".
Tensions between Beijing and Taipei have been increasing for years.
Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province that should be reunited with the mainland - if necessary with military force.
Taiwan, on the other hand, has stated several times that the country is already independent, but only a few countries recognize Taiwan.
The US has committed itself to Taiwan's defense capability - which so far has mainly meant arms deliveries.
The question of military assistance in the event of an attack was deliberately left open because Beijing saw it as a violation of its "one-China doctrine".
With this "strategic ambiguity" of the US, Beijing should be left in the dark as to what the US would do in the event of war.
muk / dpa