Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu said June 3 that Taiwan will continue enhancing its relationship with Japan and contributing to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific as a reliable partner and force for good in the global community.
The international landscape has gone through tremendous changes in the past few years, with Taiwan becoming a focal point of the ideological rivalry and strategic competition between democratic and authoritarian powers, Wu said.
Taiwan is committed to building even stronger cooperative relations with Japan, the U.S. and other like-minded partners to meet current challenges and safeguard the shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, he added.
Wu made the remarks via video link during a news conference organized by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo.
According to the minister, China is exploiting COVID-19 to impose its agenda on other parts of the world by deploying vaccine diplomacy as well as economic and military influence.
Given the country’s front-line role in opposing China’s coercion and military threat, Taiwan fully understands its responsibility to protect its sovereignty and preserve its democratic way of life, Wu said, adding that the government and people are absolutely committed to self-defense.
Solidarity and cooperation are critical in deterring authoritarian aggression, he said, citing as an example Japan’s efforts to take on regional issues through the Global Cooperation Training Framework, which the country has participated in as a full member since 2019.
The minister also thanked the government of Japan for its strengthened support of Taiwan, including its unequivocal call for Taiwan’s inclusion in the World Health Organization.
Mentions of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait made in joint statements of the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee and summit meetings, as well as the Japan-EU summit, are especially significant, Wu said. Such staunch support assures the people of Taiwan that they are not alone in confronting China’s authoritarian expansionism, he added.
In a tweet on its official Twitter account, the MOFA said: “Minister Wu’s @fccjapan press event was one for the ages. He broached all the big issues & hammered home an important message. #Taiwan & #Japan are great partners in dealing with nontraditional security issues via the highly effective Global Cooperation Training Framework.” (SFC-E)
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