The US and Australia on Tuesday reaffirmed Taiwan’s vital role in the Indo-Pacific region, and expressed concern about China’s efforts to erode Hong Kong’s autonomy.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper hosted Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Australian Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds in Washington for the 30th Australia-US Ministerial Consultations.
They issued a joint statement afterward to declare their shared commitments in regional and global issues.
Photo: Reuters
They reaffirmed that the Indo-Pacific is the focus of their alliance, and that the US and Australia are working side by side, including with ASEAN, India, Japan, South Korea and their other “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing partners (Canada, New Zealand and the UK), to maintain a region that is secure, prosperous, inclusive and rules-based, the statement said.
They expressed concerns about China’s efforts to erode Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms, as well as its campaigns repressing Uighurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang, it said.
They also reaffirmed Taiwan’s important role in the region, adding that they would maintain “strong unofficial ties with Taiwan” and support the nation’s membership in international organizations where statehood is not a prerequisite, the statement said.
“Where statehood is a prerequisite for membership, both sides support Taiwan’s meaningful participation as an observer or guest,” it said. “They reiterated that any resolution of cross-strait differences should be peaceful and according to the will of the people on both sides, without resorting to threats or coercion,” it said.
“They also committed to enhancing donor coordination with Taiwan, with a focus on development assistance to Pacific island countries,” the statement said.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) yesterday thanked the US and Australia for publicly supporting Taiwan, which she said marks the success of the government’s New Southbound Policy.
It covers 10 Southeast Asian nations, six South Asian nations, and Australia and New Zealand.
Taiwan’s location is critical in East Asia and the western Pacific, and it would continue to work with the US, Australia and other like-minded partners to foster peace, stability and prosperity in the region, while defending democratic systems and a rules-based international order, Ou said in a statement.
Ou also thanked New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for reiterating her support for Taiwan’s bid to join the WHO.
Taiwan and New Zealand have successfully contained the COVID-19 pandemic, while further cooperation between the two countries would contribute more to the world’s health systems, she said.
During her speech at the China Business Summit in Auckland on Monday last week, Ardern spelled out New Zealand’s differences from China, but said that they would manage those differences well.
“As you know, this has come to the fore recently around developments like Hong Kong’s new security law, the situation of the Uighur people in the Xinjiang region, and Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization. This is important to who we are as New Zealanders,” she said.
However, she said that New Zealand and China would support “the WHO-led COVID-19 review.”
Describing New Zealand-China ties as “mature,” she said: “I expect that we will continue to have these [different perspectives] into the future. That is normal.”
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters on Tuesday announced that the country had suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong.
ACTION PLAN: Taiwan would expand procurement from the US and encourage more companies to invest in the US to deepen bilateral cooperation, Lai said The government would not impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation against US levies, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he announced five strategies to address the issue, including pledging to increase Taiwanese companies’ investments in the US. Lai has in the past few days met with administrative and national security officials, as well as representatives from various industries, to explore countermeasures after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday last week announced a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese imports. In a video released yesterday evening, Lai said that Taiwan would not retaliate against the US with higher tariffs and Taiwanese companies’ commitments to
‘SPECIAL CHANNEL’: Taipei’s most important tasks are to stabilize industries affected by Trump’s trade tariffs and keep negotiations with Washington open, a source said National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) arrived in the US for talks with US President Donald Trump’s administration, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. Wu was leading a delegation for a meeting known as the “special channel,” the Financial Times reported earlier. It marked Trump’s first use of the channel since returning to the White House on Jan. 20. Citing a source familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported that Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) was also a part of the delegation. The visit came days after China concluded war games around Taiwan and amid Trump’s
Intelligence agents have recorded 510,000 instances of “controversial information” being spread online by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) so far this year, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report yesterday, as it warned of artificial intelligence (AI) being employed to generate destabilizing misinformation. The bureau submitted a written report to the Legislative Yuan in preparation for National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee today. The CCP has been using cognitive warfare to divide Taiwanese society by commenting on controversial issues such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) investments in the
HELPING HAND: The steering committee of the National Stabilization Fund is expected to hold a meeting to discuss how and when to utilize the fund to help buffer the sell-off The TAIEX plunged 2,065.87 points, or 9.7 percent, to close at 19,232.35 yesterday, the highest single-day percentage loss on record, as investors braced for US President Donald Trump’s tariffs after an extended holiday weekend. Amid the pessimistic atmosphere, 945 listed companies led by large-cap stocks — including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Largan Precision Co (大立光) — fell by the daily maximum of 10 percent at the close, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The number of listed companies ending limit-down set a new record, the exchange said. The TAIEX plunged by daily maxiumu in just
RSS