Taiwan said it will not “close the door” to China and will engage on an equal footing

Premier Su Tseng-chang said on Sunday that Taiwan does not wish to close the door to China and is eager to engage in goodwill exchanges on an equal footing and without political preconditions.

Relations between Taipei and Beijing, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own, are at an all-time low, with China intensifying political and military pressure on the island to recognise its sovereignty.

China’s defence minister said earlier in the day at a security summit in Singapore that the Chinese government wanted “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, but that “alternative options” were still on the table.

Su told reporters that Taiwan has always had goodwill toward China, notwithstanding China’s decision to ban the import of grouper fish from Taiwan on safety grounds, which Taipei criticised as politically motivated.

“We are happy to engage in goodwill with China as long as there is equality, reciprocity, and no political preconditions,” he stated, repeating a public statement taken by President Tsai Ing-wen.

Since her election in 2016, China has refused to speak to Tsai, considering her as a separatist who refuses to recognise that China and Taiwan are part of “one China.”

Tsai claims that only the people of Taiwan have the power to decide their future, and that while they want peace with China, they will defend themselves if attacked.

The people of Taiwan, who live in one of Asia’s most open and liberal democracies, have shown no desire to be dominated by despotic China.

China has never shied away from using force to annex Taiwan.