Taiwan leader tells China force ‘absolutely not an option’

By JOHNSON LAI
Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has told China that “armed confrontation is absolutely not an option” for resolving Beijing’s claim to the island. Speaking on Taiwan’s National Day, Tsai said China should not mistake competition within Taiwan’s multiparty democratic political system for weakness and attempt to divide Taiwanese society. The holiday celebrates Taiwan’s endurance as an independent political entity with a thriving democracy and free press. The “Double Ten” holiday as it is generally known in Taiwan commemorates a 1911 uprising by troops in the Chinese city of Wuhan that eventually led to downfall of the Qing Dynasty. China’s Communist Party swept Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government from the mainland amid civil war in 1949 and continues to claim the island.