Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu called on democracies around the world to stand with Taiwan in order to check authoritarian aggression and maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait.
Wu made the remarks during an interview with Moa Karnstrand for an article published on the website and paper edition of Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet July 13 and 15, respectively.
According to the minister, in addition to escalating military threats, Beijing is ramping up its disinformation campaign and cognitive warfare against Taiwan in an attempt to sway public opinion and drive a wedge between the country and its democratic partners.
Taiwan is a major producer of semiconductor chips, and the Taiwan Strait is a major international shipping lane, which means that the global impact of a war in the region would be more devastating than that of the Russia-Ukraine war, Wu said.
Citing estimates by U.S.-based think tank Rhodium Group, the Svenska Dagbladet article said the potential loss would amount to US$2 trillion, and that almost no country in the world would be immune to the fallout.
Taiwan is paying close attention to the ongoing war, Wu said, adding that the people have been greatly inspired by the Ukrainians’ determination to defend their homeland through asymmetrical strategies and support from the international community.
The war has brought the cruelty and devastation of such conflicts to the attention of the rest of the world, Wu said. It is essential to send a clear, united message to China about the cost of using force against Taiwan, he added. (SFC-E)
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