A blockade of Taiwan would be catastrophic for the global economy, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Cameron told Australian Broadcasting Corp in a program that aired on Thursday.
A possible Chinese invasion or a blockade of Taiwan “is clearly something we’re very concerned about,” Cameron said in an interview with the broadcaster’s 7.30 program.
“There’s no doubt that were there to be something like a blockade, it would have an absolutely calamitous effect not just on Taiwan, but on the global economy,” which would be more significant than the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
Photo: AFP
The UK is opposed to any unilateral action from either side of the Taiwan Strait that challenges the “status quo,” he said.
He called on partners of the UK to cooperate in deterring Beijing, adding that messages should be sent to non-allied countries that a cross-strait contingency would also affect them “very, very badly.”
Asked about Beijing’s rapid military buildup, he said that China has become “much more assertive” in recent years and the UK perceives the approach to be “an epoch-defining challenge.”
China’s concerning behavior, such as with its treatment of Hong Kong and the Uighurs, underline “the need for Britain and Australia and like-minded partners to work together,” he said.
As such, the UK has formed the AUKUS partnership with the US and Australia to share military technology and help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines to invest in the security of the countries and the Indo-Pacific region, he said.
The region “is vital for the world’s prosperity and for our prosperity,” and like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, regional events would have global ramifications, he said.
Separately, Cameron and UK Secretary of Defence Grant Shapps, along with their Australian counterparts Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) and Minister for Defence Richard Marles, “underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” in a joint statement issued after the Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations held yesterday in Adelaide.
They called for “the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues without the threat or use of force or coercion” and reaffirmed “shared opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo,” it said.
They also pledged to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations and foster closer ties with the nation in the economic, scientific, trade, technological and cultural fields.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday issued statements to thank Cameron and the ministers for their concerns about the cross-strait situation.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defense yesterday announced the highest single-day number of Chinese military aircraft around the nation this year, which analysts attributed as a reaction to Taiwan’s political outreach to Europe in recent days.
In the 24 hours leading up to 6am yesterday, the ministry said it had detected 36 Chinese military aircraft and six naval ships operating around Taiwan.
Among the aircraft detected, 13 had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, it added.
The announcement comes on the heels of nighttime activity by the Chinese military, with the ministry announcing at about 10:30pm on Thursday that 20 fighter jets, aerial uncrewed vehicles and transport planes had been detected from 7:30pm.
It was also the day after an uptick in activity during the 24-hour period ending at 6am on Thursday, when the ministry said Beijing had sent in 32 aircraft.
Vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) has been travelling in recent days, including to the Czech Republic and the European Parliament.
“Our fight for freedom and democracy is more shared than ever, and the Taiwanese people can rest assured it will always find dear friends in Europeans,” French politician and Member of the European Parliament Dominique Riquet wrote on X on Thursday.
Analyst Sung Wen-ti (宋文笛) said Beijing’s jump in military activity might be a “show of force to drive home its displeasure at Taiwan’s growing international engagement.”
“If this can discourage other international leaders from meeting Hsiao in the future, all the better from Beijing’s perspective,” he said.
Military expert Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) agreed that Hsiao’s European travels could play a motivating factor, but pointed to Asia for added reasons, including a recent Manila meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS