Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu said Aug. 12 that China’s authoritarian expansion is wrecking the cross-strait status quo and called on the global community to stand with Taiwan to maintain regional peace and stability.
The minister made the remarks during an exclusive interview with VOA’s William Gallo in Taipei City about the significance of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit earlier in the month and China’s recent military activities.
According to Wu, Taiwan will not be prevented from conducting its own foreign policy. Beijing will always find excuses to threaten Taiwan, with or without Pelosi’s visit, he said, adding that foreign delegations are more than welcome to visit the country.
Although China announced an end to its live-fire drills around Taiwan, the military threat remains, the minister said, citing 11 sorties by its warplanes crossing the median line in the Taiwan Strait the day before.
Wu said such actions not only violate the principle laid out by the U.N. to resolve differences in a peaceful and constructive manner, but also jeopardize rules-based international order. Taiwan’s like-minded partners including G7 countries have also issued a statement demanding China must cease its military activities, he added.
The minister said the people in Taiwan have no interest in the statements or principles reiterated in the white paper Beijing recently released. The so-called “one country, two systems” proposal is a fantasy, as evidenced by the way the Chinese government is treating Hong Kong, he added.
Wu said China’s ambition is not limited to Taiwan but extends to the South and East China Seas, as well as Africa, Indian Ocean, Latin America and the Pacific. Members of the democratic world need to stand in unity to prevent China’s authoritarian expansion, he added.
In a tweet on its official Twitter account, the MOFA said “Minister Wu laid it bare in the @VOANews interview by @GalloVOA: #Taiwan will never succumb either to authoritarianism or to the notorious #1C2S scam. Its door will remain open for global democracy, despite #China’s flagrant & unjustified military aggression.” (SFC-E)
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