Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu gave exclusive interviews to Canadian and British media outlets April 13 and 20, respectively, in Taipei City, reaffirming Taiwan’s commitment to strengthening its self-defense capabilities as he urged the global community to deter China’s aggression.
During his interview with Global News, Wu stressed that Taiwan solemnly condemns China’s military exercises that followed President Tsai Ing-wen’s stopovers in the U.S. earlier this month. China has no right to interfere in Taiwan’s establishment of friendly international relationships, the minister said, adding that Beijing’s use of force to intimidate the country is a serious provocation which disregards the principles of the U.N. Charter relating to the peaceful resolution of disputes.
According to Wu, both Taiwan and Canada value freedom and democracy and respect human rights and rules-based international order. The North American country’s Indo-Pacific Strategy launched last year attached great importance to cross-strait peace and stability, he said, adding that Taiwan is willing to share lessons learned from its experience countering Chinese cyberattacks and disinformation.
In a separate interview with LBC, Wu said China is launching operations including cognitive warfare and economic coercion against Taiwan. Successful attacks across the strait would have a serious impact on the global economy, the minister added, since Taiwan produces around 90 percent of the world’s high-end semiconductor chips and as much as 50 percent of global goods pass through the Taiwan Strait.
The British government’s integrated policy review issued earlier this year shows the U.K.’s concerns about the Russia-Ukraine war and Indo-Pacific issues, Wu said, adding that the world must avoid repeating mistakes made in Ukraine.
If China attacks Taiwan, Beijing will be able to bring the Taiwan Strait, East and South China Seas under its control, the minister said, urging like-minded partners such as the U.K. to stand with Taiwan to prevent war. (YCH-E)
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