Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Wednesday praised Estonia for its courage in allowing him to speak in public, despite Chinese protests over a prospective Taiwanese representative office.
Addressing a seminar hosted by the International Center for Defense and Security in Tallinn, Wu said it was a great pleasure to make his first-ever visit to Estonia, adding that it was especially memorable to do so in his capacity as foreign minister.
“This is nothing easy. Some rich and powerful European governments are not equipped with the same courage. Here is my salute to Estonia,” Wu said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Despite the geographical distance, Estonia and Taiwan are both facing authoritarian neighbors, namely Russia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and made great strides in democratization around the same time in the early 1990s, Wu said.
The rising threat from China poses a risk to the global community, as more than 50 percent of global maritime commercial transportation goes through the Taiwan Strait and more than 60 percent of semiconductors are produced in Taiwan, Wu said.
“Therefore, any conflict in the Taiwan Strait will lead to severe consequences for not just the region, but the entire global economy. International concern over China’s unilateral attempts to change the ‘status quo’ is very effective in keeping PRC aggression at bay,” he said.
Facing these security challenges, Wu said that Taiwan is working closely with its partners, especially the US, to strengthen its defense capabilities.
Taiwan is also fortunate to have friends around the world voicing their support, including Estonia, Wu said.
These include Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament, visiting Taiwan in August and former Estonian prime minister Andrus Ansip taking part in a high-level forum in Taipei in September.
Estonian Minister of Health Riina Sikkut also called for the inclusion of Taiwan during this year’s World Health Assembly, Wu said.
“We are truly grateful for these shows of support. You make us feel not alone in facing the PRC coercion,” he added.
Taiwan will continue to deepen its ties with like-minded partners such as Estonia “in every possible aspect to safeguard our values and the democratic way of life,” he said.
Wu is on a visit to Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania from Monday to Sunday to attend forums and give public speeches to underscore Taiwan’s resolve to safeguard democracy with like-minded countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said.
EER News, the English-language service of Estonian Public Broadcasting, on Friday last week reported that the Estonian government had agreed to let Taiwan open an economic or cultural representative office in Tallinn using the name “Taipei.”
“Just like many other European Union countries, Estonia is ready to accept the establishment of a non-diplomatic economic or cultural representation of Taipei in order to promote such relations,” Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna was cited in the report as saying.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) on Wednesday said that Beijing urged Estonia “to abide by its solemn commitment to the ‘one China’ principle ... [by] refraining from allowing Taiwan to set up any official organizations and effectively safeguarding the political basis of bilateral relations.”
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
RSS