Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu said Taiwan is working tirelessly to enhance its self-defense capabilities while garnering global support to deter China’s military aggression.
Wu made the remarks during an interview Dec. 12 in Taipei City with Andrew Dowell for an article headlined “One of the World’s Hardest Diplomatic Jobs Is About to Open Up” published the following day in The Wall Street Journal.
According to the minister, he has conducted 306 interviews with foreign media outlets after taking office in 2018. Since then, the international community has paid more attention to Taiwan than previously, and leaders around the world now recognize the importance of cross-strait peace and stability as factors in global security and prosperity and thus oppose unilateral changes to the cross-strait status quo. “This is something that I’m rather proud of,” he said.
Wu cautioned that China’s ambition does not stop at Taiwan but extends to the East and South China seas. This has prompted democracies in the Indo-Pacific and beyond to take action to ensure regional peace, he said, citing the new trilateral partnership among the U.S., Japan and South Korea following the Leaders’ Summit held at the U.S.’ Camp David in August, as well as the joint naval drills held by the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia and the Philippines last month.
Any attempt by China to interfere with logistics traffic in the Taiwan Strait will affect global semiconductor supply chains and result in a severe impact on the world economy, Wu noted. He believes that the international community will not allow this to happen.
In addition to the strong relations maintained with its allies, Taiwan is also expanding ties with the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Japan, and countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Wu said. Recent visits and statements supporting Taiwan made by political figures from those like-minded partners all indicate that Taiwan is not alone, he added.
The minister said he would step down as foreign minister at some point after Taiwan’s January presidential election regardless of the result. “His decision to retire will deprive Taipei of an experienced hand at the top of its foreign ministry at an uncertain moment in ties between the U.S. and China,” the report said. (SFC-E)
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