12 BBY, October 14—the last month of the year.
The Galactic Empire suddenly issued an extremely strongly worded statement. In it, the Galactic Empire bluntly accused the Duchy of Dawn's military occupation of Chiss territory of being illegal, inhumane, and an outright act of aggression.
At a press conference, Galactic Empire spokesperson Crueya Vandron practically cursed out the Duchy of Dawn. He claimed that the Duchy of Dawn had failed in its duties as a vassal of the Galactic Empire, refused to pay taxes to the Empire, and that Tang Xiao, the Grand Duke of Dawn, had never gone to the Imperial Center to personally pay respects to the Emperor of the Empire. This time, he said, the Duchy had directly trampled upon the Imperial Constitution by launching a foreign invasion without the Empire's permission.
Crueya Vandron demanded that the Duchy of Dawn pay its outstanding 180 billion in taxes, withdraw its troops from Chiss territory, dissolve the current Chiss territorial government, and allow the Chiss to elect a new democratic government themselves.
It had to be said that when Tang Xiao and Palpatine signed the Dawn Accord, it did indeed stipulate that the Duchy of Dawn had to pay the Galactic Empire a sum in taxes each year. Tang Xiao understood that payment as a toll for using the Rendili Trade Route, while the Galactic Empire publicly declared that it was a tax paid by the Duchy of Dawn, demonstrating that the Duchy acknowledged its status as an Imperial vassal.
Thus, for the first few years, the Duchy of Dawn had indeed paid.
However, after the hyperspace gate in the Rendili system was completed, travel between Rendili Planet and the Duchy of Dawn's homeland no longer required the Rendili Trade Route. The Duchy of Dawn no longer had any