Peace in the Taiwan Strait benefits the whole world and the international community believes that without it, there can be neither prosperity nor security, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Friday.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has ramped up its pressure against Lai, whom it views as a "separatist", and staged two days of war games around the island after he took office last month.

Over the past four years, China's military has massively increased its activities in the narrow strait, a major international waterway for trade, and regularly flies warplanes there and operates warships.

Speaking to new recruits at an army base in the central Taiwanese city of Taichung, Lai said every drop of their sweat was to protect Taiwan's security.

"The international community believes these days that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is a necessary component for global security and prosperity," he said.

"No matter whether it's the United States, Japan, South Korea or the European Union, and the heads of state or prime ministers of many nations, they all agree on this point, opposing any country using force to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait," Lai added.

"Our efforts are all for the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, for Taiwan's security, and our democratic, free system and continued economic development," he said. "Peace in the Taiwan Strait benefits global peace."

Taiwan stages its annual Han Kuang military drills next month which this year will be as close as possible to actual combat given what officials view as the rising threat from China.

Over the past week, Taiwan has reported detecting a total of 203 Chinese military aircraft operating nearby, getting as close as 31 nautical miles (57 km) to the island according to details provided by Taiwan's defence ministry.

China last week threatened to prosecute those deemed "diehard" Taiwan independence supporters, and execute people in the most serious cases, prompting Taiwan to warn its citizens to avoid the country.

Lai has repeatedly offered talks with China but been rebuffed. He rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and says only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

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Taiwan Warns Against China Travel After Threats to ‘Separatists’

Taiwan has hiked its travel warning for China to the second-highest level, citing Beijing’s decision to expand laws that threaten “separatists” from the island with the death penalty.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which oversees relations with Beijing, said residents of the self-ruled democracy should avoid all non-essential trips to China, Hong Kong, and Macau, in a statement published on its website Thursday.

Authorities said the move was prompted by Beijing’s decision to flesh out the legal definition of what it deems a Taiwan separatist. China now considers Taiwanese people who promote the island’s membership in international organizations and conduct official exchanges with foreign governments as independence seekers.

Recent incidents of Taiwanese people being detained in China were also noted as a factor in raising the alert level to orange.

China published a legal document last week clarifying laws aimed at punishing supporters of independence for Taiwan. Beijing considers the island a breakaway province and President Xi Jinping has vowed to unify it with China someday, by force if necessary.

Taiwan raised its travel alert for China to red during the pandemic, and downgraded it to yellow after Covid controls in the world’s No. 2 economy were lifted. Authorities cited risks posed by China’s anti-espionage legislation, and the security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020, as reasons for not lowering it further.

Travel between both sides of the Taiwan Strait has struggled to recover after the pandemic, with only 1.76 million Taiwanese traveling to China last year — a 56% drop compared to 2019.

Fresh tensions are unlikely to boost such exchanges. China has blasted the island’s new president, Lai Ching-te, as a “Taiwan independence worker,” saying his inaugural address last month — during which he said the two sides are not subordinate to each other — sent a “dangerous signal.”

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